Zenith
by idratherbeinforks
Summary: A sequel to Breaking Dawn, set 3 years after the events that concluded Stephenie Meyer's saga. Find out what happens when the Cullens have a final encounter with the Volturi. In canon; some new characters and further development of original characters.
1. Chapter 1: Leaving Forks

**Disclaimer: **I am not Stephenie Meyer, and I do not own the rights to any of the characters or quotations that I have used from the Twilight Series.

**A/N: **I want to say a big THANK YOU to my friend, Wendy, who convinced me to write this story and kept me motivated with her awesome feedback along the way. :)

Edward drove us to the airport late at night while Renesmee slept in the back seat. We were finally making our long-awaited visit to Zafrina and her sisters in the Amazon. This would be our first family vacation together; in fact, it would be our first time away from the rest of the Cullen family and Jacob since Renesmee was born. Jacob, of course, bitterly resented us for taking Renesmee so far away, but he could hardly argue against it since the trip was her choice. We weren't just going to visit our friends, we were also going to connect with Nahuel and meet his sisters, Vauliel and Brienay–the only other half-vampires in the world that we knew of besides Renesmee. She had come to think of them as cousins, and she had become increasingly anxious of late to see them all and get to know them. Our plan was to spend some time with Zafrina, then take Renesmee to meet up with her "cousins" and leave her to get acquainted with them while Edward and I went on a second honeymoon. We were going to revisit Isle Esme. I was immensely excited to relive the experiences we had on that magical island with my new, stronger senses. It lived in my memory as a place taken straight from a fairy tale, and I knew it would only be better this time around.

My gaze swept from Edward's face to the little sleeping beauty behind him. Watching her sleep always made me pensive, reflective. I quickly skimmed through my memories of my life since becoming a wife, a vampire, a mother, and I held each precious moment in my mind as happiness flooded my body to the point that I felt like I was going to burst. Many things about my life still seemed too utterly perfect to be real, not the least of which was that miraculous creature in the back seat of our car: _my daughter_, Renesmee. I mean, morphing into an incredibly beautiful vampire, assuming immortality and turning to look into eternity with the man I had married was pretty hard to fathom. But that was nothing, all in a day's work, compared to the mind-blowing concept of motherhood. It came so naturally to me, being a mother, and yet the ability to fully comprehend all the aspects of it completely eluded me. Of course, mothering a child like Renesmee was something totally new to the world altogether. To our knowledge, no mother had ever survived the birth of a half-vampire child. And such a child she was! She never ceased to amaze me with her intelligence, and I continued to be awed anew each day by the changes in her physical and mental makeup. She was just three and a half years old now, and already she could pass for a ten-year-old. We believed she'd be fully mature in another three years or so. That was still a little hard for me to think about. Even though I knew she was an immortal, it still felt like her life was whizzing by at an alarming rate, and I hated to see her childhood years passing so quickly.

Edward noticed the direction of my gaze and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Just the mysteries of life. And immortality. Smiling, I quickly nudged my shield away from my mind, it was so easy to do now after a few years of practice, and let him see Renesmee through my eyes. I lingered on her long, brown curls; they looked so soft and luxurious in the light of the moonbeam that fell through the car window. I focused on every detail of her face, so slender and mature-looking for a young child. Her eyes were closed, but I saw them in my mind, deep pools reflecting her serenity, happiness and love. Her countenance was always bright and alert, a combination of intelligence and playfulness. She was as smart as any adult, but still had a childlike innocence. _Edward, _I thought,_ I cherish every minute with her_.

"And she grows more beautiful with each passing minute, impossible as that seems," Edward whispered, moved by the depths of my emotions.

_It's true._

We smiled into each other's eyes for a moment and the silence of the night settled on us as we continued down the dark highway. I let my shield drop back to cloak my mind, as privacy was still important to me, when I turned my thoughts to the man beside me: _my husband_. I still got a little thrill each time I said those words, even to myself. I was used to the idea of marriage now, but I couldn't help thinking that ours was a love story of epic proportions, unworthy as we were for such a thing, and words like _husband_, _wife_, _marriage_, _love_, etc. almost seemed to trivialize what we were to each other and how we felt about each other. Our relationship since the most recent battle for our lives had intensified many times over. My newfound ability to allow Edward into my mind quickly created a unique intimacy between us. It was so relieving to be able to simply show him my thoughts when something was difficult to explain. It was also very useful for communicating things that couldn't be said in the presence of others, and I got a secret pleasure out of springing my thoughts on him when he was least expecting it. Most of all, it was one of Edward's greatest joys to finally understand the workings of my mind; he absolutely reveled in it. It wasn't long until we came to understand there was even more to it than we had originally thought. That day was one of my fondest memories.

* * *

I hadn't gotten too far into my index of special human memories with Edward that first night, and by morning he was asking for more.

"Bella, would you show me what you were thinking when you realized you were pregnant. I don't have a very clear...recollection of what happened after..."

It's no wonder. I smirked, remembering how he had totally shut down with the shock of the news.

I hefted my shield out of the way, still not very adept at this action yet, and thought of my statue-Edward in the bathroom that day.

He laughed lightly and rolled his eyes, playing down the shock that had shaken him to his core. "I guess I may have been over-reacting, huh?"

"You? Never!"

I thought of how I had stood there with my hands clasped to my belly trying to understand. The emotions I felt at the time seemed diluted now, but I remembered feeling first confusion, followed by a dawning recognition, denial, horror, fear, and then..._the nudge_. Edward felt it, too, through my mind and reached to put his hand on my stomach as if it would happen again now. I continued, remembering now the way that nudge had turned the universe around for me. In one moment I was just a girl scared beyond words at the thought of what might be going on inside me, and the next I was an expectant mother who would give anything for the wondrous child I carried. My mind had flooded with peace, knowing that this was good and right, and my heart had been overwhelmed with love for this tiny baby I had never known I wanted. I let my shield snap back at that point, not wanting to cause Edward pain by showing the panic and desperation that had followed when I realized he didn't feel the same way.

"Bella...I am in awe," Edward gasped out. "Absolutely stunned. I wish that it hadn't taken so long for me to feel the same way about her. I'll never be able to apologize enough for what I put you through."

Uh oh, here we go. I pulled him towards me and kissed him, hoping to cut his guilt trip short.

"Hold on, Bella, wait."

Ha! Not a chance!

"Wait, I'm figuring something out. It's important." He put some distance between us and puzzled over whatever it was for a minute or two. Just when my impatience was about to get the best of me, he stepped forward and reached for me again. "I didn't realize it last night because it was so new and unexpected, but I noticed just now that there's something different about the way your mind sounds to me. It's almost as if what you're thinking is coming right out of your head and into mine. I don't hear what you're thinking so much as _think_ what you're thinking, as if they were my own thoughts. It's as if I'm not listening to your mind, but _linking_ to your mind!"

"What does that mean? I'm not sure I understand..." I breathed the words, my thoughts swirling around the possibilities. Linked minds?

"I think it means that our connection to each other mentally is as powerful as it is physically," he said with a grin and a kiss. "And I think it might mean that distance isn't a factor when it comes to reading your mind. And maybe...can you hear my thoughts now, too?" he asked, clearly not sure how he felt about that last option.

"No, definitely not getting anything out of your mind. Don't worry, your secrets are safe from me," I teased, grinning back.

"That's a relief. Listen, Bella, let's test the distance theory. Stay here, and keep thinking!"

I pushed my shield away again, feeling the strain as if I was lifting a heavy weight. I didn't know how long he'd be gone, so I picked out a book and sat down by the fireplace to read it. _Jane Eyre _was an old favorite of mine, one I hadn't read since becoming a vampire; therefore, I didn't have a clear recollection of plot details. I had been wanting to refresh my memory, but I couldn't concentrate on the words now. I had to keep a good portion of my mind focused on my shield, and the rest of my thoughts kept drifting back to Edward. Even though I knew we were out of danger now, it was still hard to be separated from him, even for a few minutes. Thankfully, he wasn't gone long.

"I couldn't stand being away from you either, love," Edward said, as he burst through the door and swept me up in his arms. "I ran about 15 miles out though, much too far away to hear someone's thoughts normally, but you were still loud and clear in my head!"

I snuggled against him, my head spinning. Wow. I felt so in awe of him, of his ability, and so special to have this unique connection with him. It really was as if we were specifically designed for each other.

* * *

My thoughts returned to the present when the landscape around us brightened with the lights of the city as we neared the airport. A wave of excitement washed over me, but was quickly tainted by the sad ache that crept into my chest. I hated to say goodbye to so many people that I loved, even though it was only for a short time. I knew Edward and I would be anxious to return to them just as we would relish spending some time alone.


	2. Chapter 2: Amazonia

Our flights were long, but we arrived in Salvador, Brazil on schedule and without mishap. From there we took a charter plane to the small airfield in Manaus, where Zafrina and her sisters met us.

"Welcome, friends!" Zafrina exclaimed.

"Zafrina, Senna, Kachiri," Edward responded, "It's so good to see you again!"

"Hello, Edward, Bella," Senna and Kachiri murmured shyly. They didn't know us as well as Zafrina and looked as if they felt a little out of place.

"We're delighted to have the three of you visit," Zafrina assured us, focusing her gaze on Renesmee. "My dear little one," she crooned, reaching for Renesmee's face, "but you are not so little anymore, are you? I am so glad you've come to see me. I have something very special to show you. What do you think of this?" Renesmee immediately gasped with pleasure, as she saw the vision that Zafrina put before her.

"What is it?" I asked. Renesmee just continued to stare, mouth slightly agape.

Edward answered for her, "Zafrina has built a most elegant tree house for the three of us to stay in while we visit. Our thanks, Zafrina, I know we will all enjoy it, especially Renesmee." His corteous tone did not disguise the heartfelt emotion in his voice very well, and I burned with a curiosity to see what they had seen. I nudged Renesmee, and she turned to relay the vision to me. Zafrina hadn't revealed much, keeping the view of the tree house obscured by the surrounding jungle, but it was obviously a magical place, and I couldn't help beaming with delight at the fascination with which Renesmee viewed our accommodations. Then Renesmee reached for Zafrina's hand, thanking her, I knew, in her own special way.

We ran quickly through the rainforest together, anxious to see this fantastic tree house with our own eyes. Zafrina explained as we went that though she and her sisters were migratory beings and didn't have a real "home", they wanted to set up a place to spend this time with us so that we would feel comfortable. We thanked her again and again, but I felt unable to express the depth of my gratitude.

"Who knows, we may settle down after all, now that we have such a nice place to call home," was her only response to our thanks.

The trees were thick all around us when Zafrina finally slowed and said, "Here we are. Home sweet home." I looked around at the dense jungle, and then up and up and up. I couldn't take my eyes off of it to see the reactions of Edward and Renesmee, but a small portion of my mind registered their stillness, and I sensed that they were as stunned as I was. The tree house was even more magical then we could have imagined. So high above the ground and so masterfully crafted that I knew human eyes wouldn't be able to distinguish the structure from the branches of the trees it perched in. Even with my supernatural vision, it was difficult to pick it out at first because everything had been carefully disguised with leaves. The house was made up of several turret-like rooms, each one nestled into the limbs of it's own tree, and connected to the others with swaying vine walkways. It was literally a castle in the sky.

Renesmee was the first to gather her wits. "Zafrina! Can we go inside? Please?"

Her voice brought me out of my stupor, and when I glanced at Edward I was sure the expression on his face mirrored my own. This made me giggle, and the lines of shock on Edward's face softened into a smile.

"Of course, my child," Zafrina answered. "Come on, follow me." She was clearly enjoying the effects of her handiwork.

"Zafrina, this is amazing," Edward and I both said at the same time, and I giggled again. Between my giddy laughter and Renesmee's exclamations of wonder, Edward kept up a steady stream of praise and technical questions as the sisters led us up the tree and began the tour. At the entrance of each new room, Renesmee grabbed both my hand and Zafrina's and showed us her view of the room and what she thought of it, which was much the same with each room: complete fascination. None of the rooms had traditional furniture in them; instead everything was constructed from jungle materials. They had obviously been preparing for months, and Zafrina and her sisters had thought of everything.

Edward and I were stunned when we entered the room that had been designed for us. It was a large, octagonal enclosure decked out like a honeymoon suite with tropical flowers growing on every surface. The bed was screened with a canopy of loosely woven grass mats hanging from supports on all four sides. A thick, luxurious mattress of moss sat atop interlacing vines wrapped around a sturdy wooden frame. Windows looked out on every side into the branches of the nearby trees, and thick, woven blinds hung above them. Live ferns carpeted the floor, brushing their silken fronds against my ankles as I walked into the room. I stood in the center of the room and turned in a slow circle, absorbing the masterful beauty of our hosts' handiwork.

"This is amazing," Edward began, addressing Zafrina, and I stealthily linked my mind to his as he continued. "It's so much more than we…" To the others, Edward appeared to have lost his train of thought for the moment. I slipped my hand into his, chuckling to myself; this was my favorite way to flirt with him. I had given him a little peak into my mind as I looked around the beautiful room that we would have all to ourselves, and apparently he liked what I was thinking. After a moment, Edward cleared his throat and recovered his focus.

"Thank you, all of you," he said simply, but with real feeling.

"Yes, thank you so much," I echoed. "It is so, so beautiful."

Kachiri and Senna looked at the floor bashfully, and Zafrina laughed lightly. "The two of you deserve it," she said with equal feeling and turned to lead Renesmee across the walkway to her room.

Edward smiled down at me, squeezing my hand a little tighter, and I saw that there was a hint of fire in his eyes now. Yes, this was going to be a beautiful prelude to our second honeymoon.

We continued on to Renesmee's room and found that it also held a beautifully constructed bed, much smaller than ours, but with the same springy, moss mattress and a shower of vines and orchids hanging down around it from a canopy. In the corner stood an intricate, hand-crafted birdcage holding a large green parrot. Renesmee was enthralled, and we left her to play with the bird while we returned to the main lodge to catch up with our old friends.

The furniture here was all wicker-style, fashioned out of small sticks and laced with vines. There was really no need for furniture at all, since we all would have been just as comfortable standing as we were sitting, but I guessed that they had done it to make us feel more at home. We were used to living like humans, and there was definitely something comforting to me in the simple furniture.

At some point that evening, Renesmee found her way back to us and nestled her little body between Edward and I on the wicker loveseat. I could see that she was fighting sleep as she replayed the images of the day for us. It wasn't long before her pictures blurred and slipped into dreams. Edward and I said goodnight to our hosts and excused ourselves. I picked up our daughter and carried her back to our "wing" of the "castle", as she thought of it.

As I laid Renesmee on her bed and kissed her forehead, Edward whispered, "I liked what you were thinking earlier...would you like me to show you what I was thinking?"

"I would love it." I took his hand coyly and let him lead me to our room.


	3. Chapter 3: Expedition

At dawn the next morning, Zafrina stole into Renesmee's room and woke her saying, "We have a treat for you, young one."

I heard her huge yawn and the friction of skin on skin from our bedroom, and I imagined her sitting up in bed and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"What kind of a treat?" she asked with another yawn.

"We're going on a hunting expedition, child. Are you thirsty?"

"Oh. I guess." Renesmee still wasn't a big fan of animal blood. Even though she had resigned herself to the vegetarian lifestlye at our urging, she had a hard time getting excited about it when the memory of human blood lived so fresh in her mind.

Zafrina laughed at Renesmee's obvious reluctance. "I promise you will like what we're hunting today. It's something that you've never tasted before."

Edward and I exchanged a curious glance, then hastily dressed and presented ourselves in Renesmee's room, eager to share this new experience with her.

"Glad to see you two will be joining us. Bella, I think you will especially enjoy this," Zafrina said with a sly smile on her face. "Senna and Kachiri are waiting for us, let's go!"

We set off through the jungle at a moderate pace so that Renesmee would be able to keep up without any trouble. As we ran, the three sisters took turns pointing out the many beautiful plants and birds that we passed. I could see that they had a love for the flora and fauna of this world that they inhabited. They had lived here all their lives, and the jungle was quite literally their home. It made me wonder what their lives had been like as humans and what had happened to bring them to the point they were at now. I would have liked to hear the story.

"Zafrina," I asked shyly, "Would you tell us about how you became a vampire? If it's not too personal or anything."

"I would love to, but that's really Senna's story. I'll let her tell it."

Senna slowed to a walk, and we all congregated around her, waiting for her to begin. "It was more than a hundred years ago. We lived in a small Indian village in the heart of the rainforest. The three of us really are sisters, I don't know if you knew that, and we've always been the best of friends. Life in our village was hard at times, but we were happy together. As children, we never knew real fear or unhappiness. Then, when we were teenagers, a plague fell upon our village. No one knew what was happening, but people started disappearing, right out of their beds at times. The village leaders interpretted it as the curse of an evil spirit, and superstitions abounded. Our family started sleeping together, thinking that we would be safe as long as we stayed together, but we soon found that we were powerless against a spirit so swift and silent.

One night as I laid awake, unable to sleep, I watched with my own eyes while a pale, ghostly man glided noiselessly into the room. In a flash he plucked my mother from the bed and flew out the door again. He moved so quickly that I couldn't distinguish his movements, and I struggled to make sense of what had happened. I told myself that I must have imagined it, yet the empty spot where my mother had lain testified to the reality of what I had seen. I found myself drawn to the door, which the creature had left standing open. From the doorway I saw a figure hunched over something at the edge of the forest. My feet moved of their own will, drawn to the man, who was impossibly beautiful in spite of his strange, pale skin. I couldn't bring myself to believe that he was the evil plague we feared. Perhaps, he was angel, come to give us power over the demon that tormented us, I thought. I approached him shyly, and in the blink of an eye, he had shifted into a crouch, like a lion defending it's kill. I saw the vivid, red blood running from his mouth, but I still didn't recognize the danger I was in. Then I saw my mother on the ground before him, the blood already drained from her body, and finally I understood what had been happening to my people. But it was too late for me to warn them. As I stood there, staring in shock at the lifeless body of my mother, the vampire flew at me and sprinted off into the jungle with me in his arms.

My only hope was that death would come quickly. However, fate did not grant me my last human wish. I felt the slash at my neck, felt the blood leaving my body, and then something that I couldn't hear or see frightened my vampire, and he left me bleeding in the dark. The agony of transformation quickly overtook me, and I thought that I was dying the most horrible death ever experienced by mankind. When the pain finally ebbed days later, I had no idea what had happened. I only knew that my throat burned, and instinct led me to search for something to quench my thirst. I had wandered far into the jungle before I found the scent that answered my body's craving, and when I realized what it was that I wanted so badly, I understood that I had become a monster as well.

I knew that above all else, I must never go near the village where I had grown up. I couldn't put my sisters in danger, and I couldn't bear the thought of taking the life of anyone close to them. But then, after a few years, I found that I had gained some control over my thirst, and I ventured to hope that I might someday be able to reunite with Kachiri and Zafrina. My solitary life was insufferable without them, and I yearned just to be able to glimpse them from afar.

When I was sure that I wouldn't be a danger to them, I set out to search for my old village. I had purposely kept to the western half of the Amazon for the past three years so that I wouldn't stumble upon them accidently, which meant that I had only to scour the eastern half of the massive expanse of jungle for the tiny village of no more than 80 people. What probably could have taken years, only took a few days. I had meant to follow a grid pattern, working systematically, but my heart constantly tugged at me, and finally I gave in and followed its leading. Like an internal compass, it led me directly to the two sisters that I loved and missed so much.

I watched and listened from a distance for several days. I could see that they were unhappy. Our father had died of grief after my mother and I had been taken, and it was obvious to me that Kachiri and Zafrina still mourned as well. I desperately wanted to show them that I was alive, to lighten the heavy burden they bore any way that I could, but I worried about whether that would be best for them. I asked many questions of myself, trying to decide what to do. Would it be safe for them to associate with me? Might I hurt them in a moment of distraction? As much as I hated to admit it, I thought it likely. I wouldn't delude myself into thinking that we could ever be a family again, not unless they were changed as well. Would they want to become a vampire like me? Would that make their lives better or worse? My own life had unquestionably been made much worse, but that was mainly due to the fact that I had lost my two best friends. Through their transformation, they would gain a lost sister. Would that be enough?

In the end, I couldn't bear to see their grief. I decided that I had to let them know that I was alive. I would tell them the truth and let them decide the rest."

"No decision could have been easier," Kachiri interrupted with a broad smile.

"She's right," Zafrina echoed, "Seeing Senna again, suddenly brought meaning back into our empty lives. We didn't care what she had become. We barely let her explain what had happened before we started begging her to transform us as well so that we could all live together again."

"We were eager to do whatever it took," Kachiri explained. "The only thing that mattered to us was being together."

Zafrina nodded emphatically. "After the lonely years of our separation, the agony of parting again would have been far greater than the pain of transformation. Even now, it is very hard for us to be apart because we remember the emptiness of our lives before Senna returned to make the three of us a family again."

"Since that day," Senna finished, "I have not had a moment's regret. At one time I thought that becoming a vampire had destroyed my life, but now I see that it has enriched it. I was able to give new life to Zafrina and Kachiri, and we have lived long, happy lives together ever since."

Seeing them interact in this way, made me even more aware of the intense bond between the three sisters. I watched them closely, entraced by the way they all moved and spoke in exactly the same manner as they told their equally entrancing story. Their words left me in awe, particularly as I noted the monumental difference between their transformation story and the stories that I had heard from Carlisle, Edward and Rosalie. Senna did not feel guilty for changing her sisters, and none of them hated what they had become, instead they embraced their new life together as vampires. I found that I could identify with them in a way that I had never expected.

Just then the wind picked up, and the scent wafting on the breeze caught the attention of every one of us.

"There's your treat, Nessie," the sisters cheered in unison.

The scent was distinctly animal, yet also vaguely human, if that was possible. I didn't understand this new smell, but as I inhaled the sweet, pure undertones of that forbidden blood, I gave myself over to the hunt. Renesmee, equally absorbed, followed Edward and I as we stalked our prey. Soon my sharp eyes spotted a large group of gibbons frolicking in the trees ahead of us, the succulent aroma emanating from their warm bodies. I licked my lips in anticipation. This would be the best meal I had ever tasted.

* * *

Before we knew it two weeks had passed, and our stay with the Amazon coven was drawing to a close. Though Renesmee was enjoying herself, she missed Jacob terribly, and none of us wanted to be away from our family members for too long, so we had decided our vacation would not exceed a month. Edward and I were preparing to depart for Isle Esme now, where we would spend two weeks while Renesmee went to stay with Nahuel and Huilen in the southern region of the Amazon. She would travel with us to Rio de Janeiro, where Nahuel and Huilen would meet us, and then we would go our separate ways. It was difficult to think about being away from Renesmee; I was sure it would cause me physical pain to be separated from her, but like any parent, there was also a part of me that longed for some time alone with my husband. It eased the pain to know that Renesmee would be with family, of sorts, and that she would be able to bond with them more strongly in our absence.

"She'll be fine, Bella," Edward whispered, for at least the tenth time that morning. He was reading my face, not my thoughts, but I suppose it was obvious enough what I was worrying about.

"I know, I'm just going to miss her, that's all. I'm sure I'll be fine once we get to Isle Esme. It's just hard to think about saying goodbye to her, even for such a short time."

"We don't have to do this, sweetheart. We could just stay with her, or have her come with us. I'm sure she'd get a kick out of seeing the place where she was conceived." He snickered, diverted from his original train of thought, but one glance at my face brought him back. "I just don't want to see you in pain over something that is so easily resolved."

I took a second to organize my thoughts and rearrange my expression into something less worrisome. "Edward, love, I'm making a small sacrifice for something that I know will be worth the momentary pain. I'd love to stay with Renesmee, but we've both been waiting for a chance to go away together, and this is the perfect opportunity. She'll be so caught up in getting to know her cousins that she'll hardly miss us. _We'll_ miss _her_ like _crazy_, but we won't regret this decision." I really believed this, and Edward saw it in my face. This seemed to pacify him, and we talked about all the things we were looking forward to doing on Isle Esme as we finished gathering our things and packing our bags.

Saying goodbye to Zafrina, Senna and Kachiri was harder than I thought it would be. I had grown much closer to these amazing women in the two weeks we spent living in their world. At the moment of parting, I was struck by the fact that these were the first true friendships I'd formed as a vampire. The thought made my eyes prick, and I knew tears would have escaped if I had been human still. I was glad that tears could no longer betray my emotions, but I wanted my new friends to know how I felt about them, so I said goodbye to them each with a bone-splitting hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Saying goodbye to Renesmee was exactly as hard as I thought it would be, but Renesmee handled it better than I could have hoped for. I held her in my arms and watched as she showed me my face and noted the sadness in my eyes. I kissed her on the nose, and said, "Yes, I'm sad to leave you. You are such an important part of my life that it will be hard for me to be away from you." She showed me Edward's face then, focusing on the signs of sorrow again.

"We both love you so much, honey, we want you to know that," he responded. "It's hard to say goodbye, but we'll be happy again once we're on our way. And you'll be happy, too, won't you? You won't miss us too much, will you?"

She nodded and put her hands to both our faces, showing us a memory of the three of us together, laughing and hugging each other. Then she replayed the image from a minute ago of us saying goodbye, the moment tainted by the pain in our voices. Next I saw a vision from her imagination, showing how eager she was to meet her cousins. Finally, she produced a picture of our reunion when we came back for her. She dwelt on this scenario for a long time, thinking of how happy we would be to see her and how excited she would be to tell us about everything she had done. Yes, I decided, she would be fine. I could see that now.


	4. Chapter 4: Isle Esme

It didn't take us long to get to our destination, and as our boat approached the dock, I compared my fuzzy memories to the bright, crisp sights before my eyes now. I could hardly make the images match up, there was just so much _more_ to everything than I had been aware of before. Of course, I knew this would be the case, but it still took my breath away. I couldn't wait to walk on the sandy beach, swim in the warm water, run with blinding speed up the rocky peak, and maybe even get plastered with feathers again. I laughed out loud at that thought, and in answer to Edward's quizzical look, I shared the image of myself from our honeymoon and the thought of it happening again. Edward frowned disapprovingly, and I laughed again. He was still way too solemn about certain things that happened on this island the last time we were here.

When the bow met the rough, wooden planks, I hopped lightly out of the boat and started to run toward the cottage. Edward dashed after me and swooped me up in his arms before I had gone the length of the dock. He pressed his lips to mine and murmured seductively, "Weren't you going to wait for me to carry you in?"

His warm, delicious breath blew across my face, and I gasped, overwhelmed as always by the sudden physical proximity of his body to mine. I struggled to suck in enough air to speak and to find the presence of mind I needed to answer coherently. "I thought that was only done on the honeymoon," I managed.

"You seemed to be in the mood for reminiscing, so I thought you might like to re-enact our grand entrance with me."

I took a deep breath, inhaling his scent again. "Sounds good to me."

He cradled me to his chest and ran to the front door. He hadn't run with me in his arms since I had been turned, and the action suggested a certain vulnerability and weakness on my part. The sensation made me feel almost human again, and I kind of liked it. As time continued to pass me by, I had found that it became harder and harder to remember what it was like to be human, and I realized now that I missed that part of my life. Or missed being able to remember it clearly anyway.

Edward seemed to be enjoying his side of the re-enactment as well because he didn't put me down after crossing the threshold but continued to carry me though the house as he had done the last time we were here. He brought me to the blue room first, and remembered how he had left the bed frame there in a state of serious disrepair. I thought of that room as ours now, and I was excited to see the new bed. My eyes popped wide open as Edward opened the door and turned so that I faced the room. Not only had the bed been replaced, but the entire room had been completely re-decorated. Esme had obviously used the ruined headboard as an excuse to exercise her interior decorating skills.

"Poor Esme," Edward joked, "She must have hated me for this."

"The only reason you can laugh about that headboard now is because you funded this bedroom makeover," I accused. It was a stab in the dark, but knowing Edward, he had fought passionately over the right to pay for the damage he had done.

Edward narrowed his eyes as he looked down at my face. "She did a good job, don't you think?"

I took that for a concession. He was right though, Esme had done an amazing job. The wall facing the beach now held a huge window looking out of the ocean. The paneling had been taken down, and the walls were painted a beautiful turquoise blue to match the color of the water just a few yards away. The new bed was bigger than the old one, and topped with silk sheets and fluffy pillows in different shades of turquoise and aqua. The reflection of the sun off the water came through the window and played on the walls, giving the illusion that the room was in motion. Edward laid me down on the bed, and I felt like I was floating on a raft of sea foam, watching the waves ebb and flow around me. I could smell the sun, the water, the sand, and the salty breeze coming off the ocean. Esme was a master.

"You know, we should stay in the white room this time," I mused. "I bet Esme is hoping we'll give her a reason to re-do that room as well." It was so perfect as it was that I couldn't imagine how she could possibly make any improvements on it, but then again the blue room had been pretty perfect before, too, and her renovations had made a world of difference.

Edward took my hand and pulled me up from the bed. "Who knows, maybe she already has. I did destroy a few pillows, that probably threw off the feng shui of the whole room."

I giggled. Knowing Esme, he was probably right. "Let's go see," I urged, twining my fingers into his.

Esme had indeed been at work in the white room as well. She had kept with the white color scheme, but all the linens in the room had been replaced. The curtains, sheets, pillowcases, and canopy were all made of the most intricate, delicate lace I had ever seen, and it gave the room an old-fashioned, seaside-inn aura. I crossed the sand-colored wood floor, opened the large French doors and looked back into the room as a gentle breeze stirred the lacy fabrics. It amazed me how such a simple change could transform an entire room.

"This is..." I fumbled for the right word to express my awe.

"Exquisite," Edward finished for me.

"Yes, very exquisite. Edward, I don't know if I dare even sit on that bed, much less..." I trailed off. "We'd tear that lace to shreds."

Edward grimaced ruefully. "That lace isn't very practical, is it?"

"Unfortunately, no. And it's too bad, I would have loved to stay in here." I looked around the room mournfully, until my eyes stopped on an unfamiliar package that sat on top of the white dresser. I could see from the postage markings that it had been mailed here, and I examined the handwritten address on the top. It was Alice's. I couldn't contain the laugh that bubbled out, and at Edward's puzzled glance, I pointed to the box. Typical Alice. I hadn't let her pack my suitcase this time around, so she had probably sent some of the 'necessities' to the island so that I'd have them when we arrived.

Edward chuckled once. "Ah, speaking of reminiscing."

"What? You know what she sent?"

"This is a little surprise that I asked Alice to put together for you. I didn't want you to find out ahead of time, so I had her ship it here. Why don't you open it?"

I frowned automatically. I still hadn't reconciled myself to the fact that gifts were one of Edward's favorite ways of expressing his love for me.

"Don't worry," he continued, "it's more for me than for you."

That piqued my interest, and I grabbed the box and sliced it open neatly with my fingernail. The air that escaped from the box smelled strongly of lace and satin, and I was instantly suspicious. I pulled the flaps up and exposed the lacy garment inside. It was familiar, in a vague way. The black lingerie that Edward had ripped to pieces on our honeymoon had been very similar, but my human memories of it weren't clear enough to make an exact comparison. I looked up at Edward's angel face for an explanation with butterflies blossoming in my stomach.

"I've always felt bad that I ruined that nightgown, so I asked Alice if she could find a replacement," he said with a shrug. "She wasn't able to find an exact match, so she had this custom-made in Paris."

I didn't even want to think about how much this tiny little scrap of black lace had cost Edward. I took his gift out of the box and held it up against my body to look at it. The sight of the sheer fabric made me remember the strong emotions from our first night on this island: shyness, nervousness, insecurity, and fear of rejection, and they made me a little unsure of myself. I was starting to feel like there was entirely too much lace in this one small room. Maybe it would be nicer to stay in the blue room, after all.

"Is it as nice as the first one?" I asked, trying to disguise the tremble in my voice by posing seductively for him.

"Not yet, but it will be once you put it on."

I smiled nervously, starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by my human memories and the emotions they carried with them. I needed a minute or two alone to sort things out. "I know I can't use the excuse of needing a human minute anymore, but would you mind if I stepped into the bathroom?"

"Not at all, why don't I wait for you on the beach?"

I nodded numbly and watched him step through the open door and glide across the sand toward the water. I knew I had no reason to feel shy or nervous now, but for some inexplicable reason my body was responding as if this were the first time all over again. I stepped into the bathroom and took a few deep breaths to steady myself, then slipped on the scimpy lingerie. Holding my breath, I looked anxiously in the mirror to make sure that everything looked alright. By this point, I was half expecting to see an image of my former self, so the sculpted, dark-haired beauty in the reflection startled me at first. The thoughts tumbling around my brain finally slowed and fell into their proper places as I stared back into my own dazzling topaz eyes. I was Bella the vampire: beautiful, indestructible, confident, and poised. Suddenly, every nerve ending in my body tingled in anticipation, and I quickly forgot my hesitation. I left my worries behind and walked out onto the sun-bleached sand, strutting like a Victoria's Secret model.


	5. Chapter 5: Interruption

We had been there almost a week when our bliss was interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone. We were in bed and not in any mood to be disturbed, but my thoughts instantly went to Renesmee. She had called earlier in the day, but maybe something had come up. I had the phone in a flash and checked the display.

"It's Alice," I told Edward.

"Great. What's wrong now?"

Unfortunately for my poor sister-in-law, her visionary gift often made her the bearer of bad news. I felt a knot forming in my stomach as I pressed the talk button.

"Alice?"

"Bella! Oh, Bella, is everything ok? I thought something must have happened to you!" Everything was fine until two seconds ago. I couldn't help feeling a little angry; obviously this disruption was an overreaction on her part.

I gritted my teeth. "No. We're fine. What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. It's so strange, so sudden. Everything looked perfectly normal, and I wasn't paying particular attention to any one thing, when all of a sudden I had a flash. Oh, Bella, it's so horrible, I don't know what it means!" So there was bad news after all. Edward heard her words from across the room and was at my side in one quick movement.

"Spit it out, Alice," I prompted. "What did you see?"

"I...I saw you and I in the tower room in Volterra. We were standing on either side of Aro, wearing the cloaks of the Volturi. I can't understand what could have happened to trigger this. There's nothing on this earth that would make us join his guard! Bella? Bella, are you there?"

I choked out the word that had lodged in my throat. "Renesmee."

"Is she ok?" Alice squeaked. "You know I can't see her. Is she safe?"

Edward and I were frozen in horror, our bodies shutting down as our minds tried to process what Alice had seen. We had good cause to imagine the worst given all that we'd been through together. Had something happened to our precious daughter that suddenly changed the future so drastically? Or was it merely a new scheme of Aro's, a passing whim? There had been many false alarms over the years as he plotted in his tower, obsessing over different ways to acquire Alice and I. None of his plans had ever amounted to a vision like this though. Had he finally found a way to get to us? Did it involve Renesmee? My mind quickly sorted through these options and then pushed them aside. I had one priority now: to make sure Renesmee was safe, and I couldn't be sure of that until I held her my arms again. We could figure all this out later.

"Alice, we're going to get Renesmee right now and then we'll catch the first flight home. We'll let you know when we've got her." I ended the call automatically, feeling like my mind had disconnected from my body. I knew I had to snap out of it. Renesmee might be in trouble! Edward was still unmoving at my side. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard. "Edward! We've got to go! Now!"

We raced across the water as fast as the speedboat could go. I was so desperate to reach Renesmee that I felt like I could have swum the distance faster, even though we were going about 100 miles per hour. After what seemed like an eternity, I saw pinpricks of light in the distance. The city of Rio loomed before us, and soon we were able to distinguish the harbor. Edward rammed the boat into a slip at full speed, and we leaped onto the dock and took off without bothering to tie it up. We skirted around the city to avoid being seen by people out enjoying the nightlife of Rio. It was faster than trying to walk casually through the streets without attracting attention, and much less frustrating. I was glad to finally be able to put my pent-up energy to use. My legs flew beneath me so fast that I wasn't sure I had ever run so swiftly, even as a newborn. Edward must have felt the same; he never fell behind. Soon we were entering the outer limits of the jungle, and we slowed. We didn't have any real idea where Renesmee and the others would be, so we would have to pick up their scent from a week ago when we had met them here to drop off Renesmee. It had to be in this general area.

"Bella, here's the trail! Let's go!"

We took off again at full speed, following their path into the depths of the jungle, and within minutes we found fresh scents. This was their camp, but where was everybody? We had paused, unsure of what to do, when we heard someone running through the trees toward us. I automatically dropped into a defensive crouch, and Edward did the same, placing himself slightly ahead of me. A growl ripped from Edward's throat as the figure came into sight, and I reflexively covered us both with my shield. I realized in the next second that I knew this vampire, and then, a fraction of a second later, that it was Huilen. Where were the others?

She stopped in her tracks when she saw us, snarled brutally, and then relaxed slightly as recognition flooded her face. "Edward, Bella! They're gone! They've been taken! They're all gone!" Her voice broke on the last word, and her screams turned to sobs as she collapsed on the ground before us.


	6. Chapter 6: Pain

A haze fell before my eyes, and I felt like I might lose consciousness. What was she talking about? She couldn't mean that _Renesmee_ was gone; there must be some mistake. I fought to keep my head out of the fog so that I could hear what she was saying.

"You scared me...I thought...you must be the ones...must have come back...to kill me, too," she managed to get out between her heaving, tearless sobs.

"_What!_" Edward demanded, the word sounding more like a snarl than anything in the English language. "Who. Has. Been. Killed." Edward spit the words through his clenched teeth.

Huilen gasped and seemed to realize that she better pull herself together or she might be in danger after all. Edward did look pretty murderous at the moment. I cheered him on in my head. He would avenge the death of our daughter, starting with this sniveling traitor who had left her vulnerable to the enemy.

"No, no, no! Let me explain," she wailed. "Joham, it's just Joham that's been killed. The others, Nahuel, Renesmee, Brienay and Vauliel are...I think they've been...kidnapped." No! I still didn't understand, still couldn't believe that it was true. Had they been with Joham? Was he to blame for this? If so, he had met his justifiable end. I wished I didn't feel cheated by the fact that he hadn't met it at my hands, but the feeling was undeniable. I needed to get control of myself.

"Tell me how this happened," I demanded, trying not to sound too enraged and failing miserably.

Edward cut in before she could open her mouth. "Tell us while we run. We've got to find them!"

"It's no use. I've followed the trail already," Huilen moaned. Edward ignored her and took off in the direction from which she had come. I followed at his heels, and I heard Huilen sigh and race to catch up. She started talking more clearly now that we were in action. "Nahuel and the girls left early this morning. Brienay and Vauliel have been staying here with us for the past few days, and today they wanted to show Renesmee where they live. I think Joham was particularly anxious to meet her." Edward and I roared and whirled to face her. My instinct was to lunge at her neck, teeth slashing, but I held back. "What did he want with her," I shouted.

"Nothing, nothing!" Huilen backpedaled. "He was just curious to meet her. Nahuel talks about her so much, and he has never met any half-vampires other than the ones he created." I snorted in response and turned quickly to pick up the trail again. I reminded myself that she was our friend. She had helped save us from the Volturi three years ago, and we owed her more respect than this. I felt wretched. I wanted someone to blame for this, and she was an easy target. I promised myself that I would make amends once we had gotten to the bottom of this.

"The four of them were planning to be back by nightfall," she continued timidly, "and when they didn't return, I went looking for them. I followed their trail straight to Joham's house, and that's where I found Joham's...remains. He had been burned alive. No one else was there, but I picked up another trail leading away from the house. There were many new scents, but I could detect Nahuel, Renesmee, Brienay and Vauliel among them. I followed them until I hit the coastline. That was as far as I could track them. I was just running back to try to find you when you found me." I sighed and shuddered. If what she said was true, Edward and I would be in ruins. I could feel her words cutting slashes through the fabric of my being, and I knew that having them confirmed by reality would tear me to shreds. None of us could find the words to say anything more at that point so we ran on in silence.

When we came to Joham's house, it was obvious that it was deserted. A small pile of fine ash marked the spot where Joham had died. I stood there and stared, recognition solidifying my worst fears. I knew who had done this. I had seen ashes like that before, when Irina was murdered. Joham hadn't been burned, he'd been _incinerated_. "Edward," I gasped, "The Volturi."

"I know," he moaned, his life falling in tatters around his feet. I felt myself being shredded into even tinier bits at the sight of the suffering in his face, and I acted on instinct, throwing my shield away from my mind. _Edward, we will find her and bring her back, and we will make them pay for this_, I vowed. My shield rebounded from the force with which I hurled it and snapped back into place. I hoped that it had been quickly enough to cover the doubt that had risen immediately after I made my rash promise. 

We frantically followed the trail to the coastline, but Huilen was right. There was nothing more we could do here, and we needed help. We had to go home and get our family and friends together, and then we'd go to Italy to demand her return.

"Edward, let's go." My voice sounded full of defeat, and I hated it. "Huilen, thank you and please forgive us for our harshness. We shouldn't have..." I trailed off, suddenly losing the energy to continue.

"I understand, Bella. Are you going home now? I want to come with you. Please, it's about Nahuel. I have to find him." Edward and I simply nodded and then turned to retrace our stepsff.

Numbly, we made our way to the airport, boarded a plane, and resigned ourselves to waiting out the long flight home. The cabin of the plane was dark, and I sunk into a stupor. I knew how to deal with pain like this; I knew how to shut it away and not think about it, not think about anything. I let myself be lulled senseless by the monotonous drone of the engines. Hours passed, but I felt like I had been disconnected from the influence of time. One minute was the same as the next inside the empty expanse of my mind. I was dimly aware of Edward's arm around my shoulders, vaguely conscious that it was lifeless, a dead weight. _Edward_, I thought, and then winced. I couldn't even think about him right now. It made me remember another time when I had been forced to banish my thoughts in order to avoid pain. The hole in my chest. Clutching arms. Nightmares. The memories came one after another, and I willed myself further into oblivion so that I wouldn't feel the agony that threatened to break through and rip me apart again. Before I could achieve the emptiness I stove for, another thought rose to the surface unbidden, triggered by my subconscious: I was going to become a zombie again. Good, that was exactly what I wanted. But then that thought morphed into a fearful realization: a zombie-mother wasn't going to do Renesmee any good. What was I thinking?! How could I let myself black out like this when she needed my help! I could not shut down, passively accepting whatever happened, as I had when Edward left me. Renesmee needed me to fight for her. I had to face the pain, take it willingly, but not let it overwhelm me. I had to do whatever I could do to bring her back.

I took a mental breath, preparing to re-surface. Awareness brought a flood of pain, but it did not catch me off guard, and I was ready to deal with it. I was much better at compartmentalizing now than I was as a human. I realized now that I didn't have to shut my brain down in order to survive this trauma. I carefully pushed my grief and fear to a spot at the back of my mind, closed it off and locked it up. I was free then to focus on Edward, and I saw to my dismay that he might as well have been catatonic. I hope this works. I opened my mind to him and replayed the sequence of events that had just happened in my head_. Renesmee needs us both, Edward_. He sighed, and his eyes slowly focused on my face.

"You're right. I didn't want to face this, but you're right. We're not going to give up on her yet!"

Huilen was on my other side. She hadn't said a word since we left, and I didn't know how to encourage her, so I pulled her arm through mine and patted her hand. She smiled weakly in my direction and went back to her thoughts. She was maintaining a calm facade, but I had caught a glimpse of her inner turmoil in those sad eyes. I realized then that Nahuel was like a son to her; she had raised him when her sister died giving birth to him, and they had never been separated. She must be every bit as desperate as I was to find out where they had been taken and to get them back. She trusted us to help her do that. I hoped with all my heart that we wouldn't disappoint her.


	7. Chapter 7: Questions

As the plane taxied to a stop in Seattle, Edward announced, "Jasper and Alice are here."

"Where?" I craned my neck to see out the window, but there was no one around as far as I could see.

"I can't see them, but I hear their thoughts, so they're close. They came because they're worried about us, and because Alice doesn't think we'll be fit to drive ourselves home," Edward admitted ruefully.

Well, that was very nearly true. I watched as an airline employee pushed the big, wheeled staircase toward our plane. We waited impatiently for our turn to disembark. "They've seen our plane, and they're coming out here to meet us," Edward informed Huilen and I.

We finally got to the exit, and I looked down the steps right into the expectant eyes of my sister-in-law. The sight of Alice's familiar little face looking up at me immediately filled me with a sense of comfort. Then again, Jasper probably had more to do with that than she did. I wrinkled my nose at the thought. "He's just doing his best to help us, Bella. He wishes he could do more to ease our pain," Edward said under his breath.

I unshielded myself to answer him silently so that Jasper wouldn't hear. "_I know_," I thought with a big mental sigh, "_I wish there was something that any of us could do. I wish I didn't feel so…helpless_." No sooner had I recognized the new emotion than I felt a sudden surge of confidence. Jasper again. I mentally rolled my eyes. "_I have to admit, he's good at what he does_."

Alice rushed forward as soon as we stepped clear of the stairs and folded me into her arms. "Bella, are you ok, honey?" No, not even close, not unless feeling like the axis of your world was missing counted as being ok.

I laid my head on her shoulder and breathed in her soothing scent. "Alice, they took her." I moaned, suddenly sick to my stomach as the pain returned with the spoken words. _They took her_. The phrase had been swirling around in my head ever since we left South America.

"Shhhh, Bella, sweetheart," she whispered back, "We'll find her." She took Huilen into her arms as well, and continued, "We'll find them both, Huilen. We'll get them back." I wanted so badly to believe her, but I knew that she had no way of knowing for sure. Renesmee was a blind spot in Alice's vision of the future, and anything could happen inside that little blind spot without Alice ever seeing a thing_. _And the Volturi had already gotten around her vision once: they took my baby, and she never saw it coming. Could they hide Renesmee from us forever? What did they want with her? Why did they take her? My mind cycled through the questions I'd already asked a thousand times on the way home, and I still had no idea how to answer them.

"Edward, what happened?" Jasper asked. His voice made me realize that I was starting to let my emotions run away with me, and that I was probably sending out pretty strong vibes at the moment. I pushed my worries away and cleared my senses so that I could focus on the conversation. I was determined to lock away my despair and get myself under control so that Jasper wouldn't have to step in again. I saw him throw a surprised glance in my direction as I quieted emotionally, and I gave myself a little pat on the back for his benefit.

"It was the Volturi," Edward was explaining, "They were the ones that took her."

Alice frowned deeply, clearly frustrated. "How? How is that possible? I would have seen their plans as soon as they made them. They may have been obscured because of Renesmee's involvement, but I should at least have seen how the outcome would have affected us. I should have seen _something_."

"It's not your fault, Alice," Edward reassured her. "Apparently they were only after Joham. We found his ashes. Maybe Renesmee wasn't in the plans at all; maybe they just took her, and the others, because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. That must be why you never saw anything."

"Argh! This is so aggravating!" Alice exclaimed. "You mean you think this happened because of some horrible coincidence?! Oh, of all the luck…this _would_ happen to Bella's daughter."

"Apparently bad luck is hereditary," Edward muttered wryly.

I wanted to tell him a thing or two about exactly where he would be if my "bad luck" hadn't brought me stumbling across his path, but I held my tongue. "Alice, concentrate," I said, "Have you seen anything that might tell us what they're going to do now?"

"No, nothing. I saw you and Edward searching in the jungle for something, I assumed it was Renesmee, and then I saw you coming home without…with just Huilen. I knew something must be terribly wrong, so Jasper and I came to meet you. That's all," she finished with a bewildered shrug.

I thought back through everything that had happened since we got that fateful phone call from Alice last night. It was really that call that had started all of this, now that I thought about it. What was it she had said? She had seen the two of us standing with Aro as if we were members of his guard. What did that vision have to do with anything? Aro was always trying to find ways to get to Alice and me. Big deal. There was nothing he could ever do to make us join his side.

It hit me then. I knew what the outcome of this situation would be. Alice _had_ seen it.


	8. Chapter 8: Revelation

I gasped and everyone turned to stare at me. "I think I might have just figured out what's going on here," I explained weakly. I felt like the wind had just been knocked out of me, and I didn't know if I could find the strength to say my thoughts out loud. I looked at Edward's perfect face to steady myself and then continued, "I was just thinking about how all of this started. The reason Edward and I left Isle Esme and went looking for Renesmee was because Alice called us in the middle of the night and was worried about a vision she had just seen. The vision was of the two of us dressed in the robes of the Volturi guard, standing at Aro's side." I took a deep breath to prepare myself for what I had to say next. "I don't think this vision was the result of another one of Aro's idle schemes. I think that it was triggered by Renesmee's capture."

Instinctively, the four of them hissed and gasped in reaction to my words. It was a moment before anyone could frame an answer. Then Alice spoke slowly, thinking out loud, "It makes sense, I suppose. Her capture must not have been planned ahead of time, which is why I didn't see anything until it actually happened. Then, when they ran across her and decided to take her, that set in motion a pre-determined sequence of events. I saw the vision of us with Aro at the moment Renesmee was abducted because he had already planned out exactly what he would do if he could ever find a way to get to her. And," she paused as the pain of realization washed over her features, "because our love for Renesmee is so great that there is no question of us denying him what he wants."

Edward broke in, "What you saw in your vision is not the only option, Alice. That gives us an indication of what Aro will do now that he has her, but we can still choose to react differently. Under no circumstances will you and Bella give yourselves over to the Volturi." His face was firm and his voice steely; I knew there would be no arguing with him. I fervently hoped that he was right, that there would be another option. There wasn't anything I despised more in the world than the thought of working with Aro, but my heart told me that if that was our only choice, the only way to get Renesmee away from him, then I would go to him and do it willingly.

"Edward," I said as I reached for his hand and brought it to my lips, "Let's go home and talk to Carlisle. He'll help us figure out what we should do."

He searched my eyes for a long moment before replying. "Yes, we need his help and advice. Just don't start getting any heroic ideas, Bella. We're going to find a way to get her back without having to trade you and Alice for her, ok?"

I couldn't bring myself to make any promises when I knew there was a good possibility of having to break them. I just nodded my head and kissed his hand again.

Alice unwillingly admitted that Edward was capable of driving us home after all, and they followed us in their own car. Huilen went with them, probably wanting to stay near Jasper and the aura of comfort he was still producing. It didn't take us long to reach Forks with Edward driving at the speed of light, but the slower roads through town were a test to our patience.

Carlisle, Esme, Rose and Emmett were all waiting on the front porch for us when we drove up to the house. Of course, they were all anxious to know what had happened to Edward and I, and why we had returned without Renesmee. "Huilen," Carlisle exclaimed as we got out of the car, "It's so nice to see you again." He quickly surveyed each of our faces as we approached. "I see that we aren't meeting under favorable conditions," he continued, "but I hope you know that you are very welcome here and we will do everything we can to make you comfortable while you stay with us. We haven't forgotten what you did for us, and we hope to find some way to return the favor."

"Thank you, Carlisle," Huilen spoke for the first time since leaving the Amazon jungle. "I appreciate it."

We were greatly indebted to Huilen for her help in thwarting the Volturi three years ago, and the risk that she took in exposing herself and her nephew to them had cost her dearly. Carlisle did not yet know that returning that favor might require Alice and I to sacrifice ourselves in order to get Nahuel and Renesmee home safely.

Carlisle broke the tension. "Let's all go inside and talk about what happened."

We all sat around the big table in the dining room. We knew from experience that it helped to adopt a formal seating arrangement when we wanted to calmly discuss something important. Edward quickly explained what had happened after we got the call from Alice, and the conclusions we'd come to about the Volturi's involvement since then. When he finished, everyone was silent and still. I looked around at the faces of the people that I loved, and my heart broke for them. They all loved Renesmee so much. She was the only grandchild that Carlisle and Esme would ever have. Rosalie had wanted a child more than anything, and Renesmee filled that void for her. Alice doted on her "little doll" like she was a princess. To Jasper and Emmett she was the baby sister they had never had, and they were her fierce protectors. She was Edward's pride and joy, and he absolutely adored her. The anguish in the eyes of my family when they learned of her capture was almost more than I could bear. And of course, there were many others who loved her in their own ways: her Grandpa, Sue, Jacob, Billy, and all her werewolf friends. How would we tell them that she was gone? How could I stand to see anyone else in pain over this? In a way that I couldn't explain, I felt responsible for their suffering, and the sight of their grief multiplied that of my own. The looks on their faces told me what I needed to do. I could ease their pain by sacrificing myself. I would have to say goodbye to everyone I loved, including the two most important people in the world to me, but I thought that I could deal with my own pain knowing that I had done what was best for my family.

Everyone seemed to be looking to Carlisle for his advice, and I knew that they would all do whatever he thought was best. Finally he spoke. "I think the best thing to do for the moment is wait to hear from Aro."

Emmett couldn't contain himself. "Wait?!" he shouted, "We should be gathering an army and preparing to fight!"

"Emmett," Carlisle responded calmly, "There's still a chance that Aro will rethink his plans. His men are likely still traveling back with Renesmee and the others, and Aro probably has no idea that they have her yet. When he does find out, he may not follow the pre-planned course of action that triggered Alice's vision. Since that plan was purely hypothetical, we should wait until he makes a final decision."

"You're right, Carlisle," Edward agreed, "We'll wait, but we'll make plans of our own in case he does decide to follow through with his original idea." Yes, I would be ready. If he demanded me in exchange for Renesmee, I would go, and I would find a way to leave Alice out of it.


	9. Chapter 9: Options

The week that followed was the longest week of my life as we waited for some indication of what was to come. The only visions Alice saw were variations of the first vision she had had of the two of us as Volturi members; sometimes she saw us both standing alongside Aro, and sometimes she saw only me. This both comforted me and alarmed me. I was glad that there might be a way to keep her from going, but I was disconcerted because Edward was becoming increasingly adamant that I not leave him. I was afraid that he was the one person who might possibly be hurt _more_ by the exchange, instead of being restored to some semblance of happiness, as I had hoped. My decision wavered back and forth, and I was no longer sure what I would do when the time came.

Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Edward spent the week strategizing. The four of them were of the opinion that this would end in a battle. Interestingly, Alice hadn't had one vision of a fight, but this didn't deter them. I suspected the reason she didn't see that outcome, and the reason why she didn't join in their plans was because she was also secretly committed to turning herself over to Aro. I couldn't imagine her leaving Jasper, but that would explain the dirty looks that Edward had been giving her recently. Did she have something up her sleeve? I couldn't help hoping she did. I half-heartedly joined in the battle preparations only at Edward's urging. It wasn't that I didn't want to attack the Volturi and make them pay for what they had done, but I couldn't justify letting my family put themselves at risk when I could easily settle the matter on my own without loss of life.

Finally, on the sixth day, Alice saw something that indicated our waiting was at an end. We would receive a letter the next day. Endless speculation ensued about the nature of Aro's plans now that he had apparently made a final decision. The consensus was that it appeared he had stuck to his original plan since Alice hadn't seen anything other than variations of the same theme. We started to make tentative plans based on this information. As always, we looked to Carlisle to direct us.

He outlined his opinion, saying, "I'm still not sure that fighting is a good option, or even an acceptable option. We would have to meet them on their territory, where they are heavily fortressed and guarded. Aro would likely threaten us with Renesmee's life, rendering our assault useless. At the same time, we would be exposing our family and dear friends to very grave danger. If it did come to a battle, there would be many who would not return home."

"I agree," I put in, trying to sound braver than I felt, "it's not worth the risk. We need to consider...alternative plans."

"As in, trading you and Alice for Nessie? As if you were nothing more than a satchel of money?!" Edward hissed. "We've discussed this already, _that_ is not one of our options."

"It might be our _best_ option, Edward," Rosalie countered, "We could figure out a way to get them back once Renesmee was safe, you know."

Edward snarled, "And how would we do that? By procuring a few of our talented friends to trade with Aro? I don't know about you, but that's not the way that I do business."

"Edward, please," Alice pleaded, "We need to consider every possibility." This earned her another one of Edward's famous glares, while Jasper's face registered open shock and then spasmed in pain.

"No, Alice, no!" I exclaimed, horrified by Jasper's reaction. "You don't need to consider that. We'll negotiate with Aro, and maybe he'll settle for just me. Please don't involve yourself in this."

"Bella, we can get her back," Emmett assured me, "without giving Aro anything. I'd sooner fight than give him _a toad_!"

"Ok, we're not getting anywhere here," Carlisle jumped in, "Let's talk things through calmly. We've mentioned two possibilities so far, and I can only think of one other: I go alone, or with Edward, and attempt to reason with Aro. He wants to maintain a facade of friendship with me, maybe he will back down if confronted." I didn't like that idea at all, at least not the part about Edward going with him. Maybe if Jasper or Emmett went? No, still too dangerous. Aro could easily come up with an excuse to have them executed.

Alice took the words right out of my head, "I don't know, Carlisle...if he's really set on getting what he wants this time, he could easily fabricate a reason to have you killed." And she says she can't read minds. Ha!

I decided to try playing another card. "So there really aren't any good options, are there? Maybe we should list the pros and cons of each one and pick the one with the least amount of cons," I suggested. I didn't know if this would work to my benefit or not, but at least it would open up discussion about the possibility of me going to Volterra.

"That sounds reasonable," Carlisle agreed.

This is what we came up with:

#1 Go to war with the Volturi

Pros: Possibly defeat the Volturi and free the vampire world from their menace

Cons: Probability of many friends and family members being killed; putting Renesmee in danger; possibly losing the battle and being hunted to the ends of the earth

#2 Trade Bella and Alice for Renesmee

Pros: Avoid violence; get Renesmee back safely; no one dies

Cons: Losing two members of our family in order to gain one; Edward and Jasper losing their mates, at least temporarily; Alice and Bella subjected to unknown horrors as Aro tries to use them to his benefit

#3 Meet with Aro and try to talk reason

Pros: Possibly avoid violence; possibly make him change his mind and release Renesmee

Cons: Likelihood of Aro killing anyone who opposed his will

"This isn't a fair way to decide at all," Edward complained when we were done. "The pros and cons all carry different values, some are worse than or better than others. We can't just add them up and make a decision based solely on numbers." Yes, I could see that now, but privately I thought that option 2) had the best pros, and it certainly didn't have the worst cons. If only there were some way to combine our options so that we could come up with a fourth option that had both the best pros and the best cons. I put my brain to work solving that riddle while the talk continued around me. I was only half-listening as they started assigning "ranks" to the pros and cons so that we could better assess the value of each option. The more I thought about it, the better option #2 sounded to me. The other thing that appealed to me was going to war and defeating the Volturi; I relished the idea of bringing them to justice for everything they had put my family through in recent years. Unfortunately, that option also had the potential for the worst cons out of any of them. If there was a way to guarantee Renesmee's safety and also tip the odds in our favor, then I think I'd be pretty tempted to go for it. Was there a way to combine the first two options? Could we make Aro think he was getting his way and then attack him unexpectedly? Aha! The pieces started to fall into place as my mind worked faster and faster. Before I knew it, I had a plan, quite possibly a foolproof plan.


	10. Chapter 10: Foolproof Plan

"Um, guys?" They were still debating numerical values. "I have an idea." Eight pairs of vampire eyes turned to bore holes into me, and suddenly I wasn't so sure that my plan was foolproof after all. I briefly considered trying to brush it off, but I knew Edward wouldn't let me get away with that. I was committed now. "Please just hear me out and don't interrupt until I explain everything, ok?" Eight nods. _Here goes nothing_. "I think that there is one more option, or at least a slightly different version of one of the options. I know how to get Renesmee back safely without giving in to Aro and without any unnecessary risk to our family and friends." I checked Edward's expression out of the corner of my eye; he looked intrigued but mildly suspicious. I saw a lot of raised eyebrows and curious eyes as I glanced around at the rest of my family. Then I looked out of the corner of my other eye to see how Alice was responding. She didn't seem to be paying attention. That was odd. I turned to look more closely...oh no! She was seeing a vision of what I planned to do, and, of course, now Edward was reading it right out of her mind. I desperately hoped Alice would see a good outcome, or I was in for it. Everyone's eyes had shifted to her now.

"Alice?" Jasper prodded, "What do you see?"

"It's not going to work," she responded in a monotone, still seeing the vision before her. Lovely. Well, that crushed my plan. "Aro wants us both," she continued, "he's not going to settle for only you. He's going to hold you and Renesmee at the castle until I come, too, then he'll let her go." Interesting. Well, then maybe my plan would still work, but there was no way I could follow through with it unless I could somehow get Renesmee out of there first.

Edward cut in then, "Bella! What is this all about!" He wasn't very happy about what he saw. I knew that my great plan didn't look that spectacular when it was thwarted at the first stage, but they hadn't seen the whole picture. I felt a little cheated. How could I explain myself now without looking like a total fool? This was the kind of embarrassment that I'd experienced nearly every day as a human, but I wasn't used to it anymore, and it left me speechless.

I was still searching for words when Alice spoke again. "Bella, I will go with you."

I was aghast. "But you don't even know what I was planning!"

"No, but I can see that you won't get anywhere unless I go as well," she replied calmly.

I was about to protest further when she lapsed into another vision. I crossed my fingers. Several long moments passed, then a smile started to spread across her face. Edward was frowning, but he looked impressed at the same time. I dared to hope. Slowly Alice came out of it, and said, "Bella, you are a _genius_!" A giddy laugh escaped my lips before I could suppress it.

"What's going on! Tell us what this plan is already!" Emmett shouted.

Rosalie was muttering under her breath, but I caught the words, "You three are impossible to live with." Oh, Rose.

Alice started to explain, "Bella, Edward and I are going to Volterra to make a deal with Aro. Bella and I will offer to join his guard if he lets Renesmee go home with Edward. Aro will accept, gleefully." She smiled a wry smile. "Then comes the tricky part: Bella and I get to be spies!" I could tell she loved the idea of espionage. Edward on the other hand looked very apprehensive, and I started to worry about him. I would have some reassuring to do later when we were alone. Alice continued: "Aro will think that everything is going his way, but there's going to be a lot going on behind his back that he'll never know about. Bella will protect our minds so that he won't be able to know our true thoughts, and she'll pass along all our insider information to Edward so that all of you can plan a raid to get us out of there!"

"Wait a minute," Jasper interrupted, "I'm fairly sure Aro isn't going to think that everything's going his way if he can't read your thoughts, Alice. That's the whole reason why he wants you."

Before I could answer, Edward followed up with a concern of his own. "Also, Bella and I have never tested the theory that I can hear thoughts no matter how far away she is. I have serious reservations about hinging your safety, Bella, on the assumption that I would be able to hear you halfway around the world."

"But Alice saw that it _would_ work," I argued.

"No, not quite," he replied solemnly, "Right now she can't see the final outcome because too many things have yet to be decided. Our ability to communicate long-distance might be one of those things."

"Well, we'll test it more thoroughly then," I answered stubbornly, and continued on before he could respond, "And I think, Jasper, that Alice and I will be able to fool Aro into thinking that he _can_ read her mind. I have a little practicing to do, but I'm fairly sure I can shield just the portions of her mind that need to be hidden, like her visions, so that Aro won't see what you're planning back here, but he'll be able to scan her thoughts." This was the part I was the most anxious about because I'd never really tried it before, and I honestly didn't know if it would work.

I realized everyone was looking at me now like I'd just told them I'd found a cure for cancer, so I hurried to explain myself. "When I cover someone with my shield, I can sort of sense their presence once they are enveloped. Each mind is like a little flame or light. I noticed the first time that I shielded Alice's mind that her 'light' was more complicated than everyone else's. When I thought about it later, I realized that everyone's lights were different in subtle ways, but Alice's was different in a more obvious way: there were two different kinds of light twined together. I theorized that one was the light from her visions, and the other was the light from her personal thoughts. This made me think that maybe Edward had two different kinds of light, one from his own thoughts and one from the thoughts of others. I've checked, and it turns out that he has many, many different kinds of light from all the many kinds of thoughts, but it is much harder to distinguish the differences between them because personal thoughts are all very similar in nature. I can distinguish between Alice's two lights easily, but I never thought of the possibility of shielding just one part of her mind until now."

I caught Carlisle's astonished look, and it made me feel guilty for not telling them this sooner. I quickly mumbled an apology for keeping it to myself for so long. I couldn't tell them that the reason I never shared this with anyone was because I knew Edward and Carlisle's love for researching vampire abnormalities would make guinea pigs out of Alice and I for who knew how long. However, now that the safety of my daughter hung in the balance, I was willing to test the theory as much as they wanted.

"I'm very impressed," Jasper conceded, "but what about all the thoughts that she's having right now while we plan this? Won't Aro be able to see those? He claims to be able to see every thought a person has ever had."

"It's true," Edward asserted, "He sifts through them quite a bit looking for certain things, but if he wanted to, he could see everything single thing you've ever thought."

"I know," I admitted, "It's just a theory, but I think if Alice organized her thoughts for me...kind of grouped all the incriminating thoughts together with her visions, then I shouldn't have any trouble shielding them. But like I said, we need to practice." Everyone was definitely staring at me like I was insane now, and I was sure Edward was thinking about having me committed to some sort of vampire mental hospital.

Then Carlisle came to stand behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. "I think that is an excellent idea, Bella, and I'm sure that you can make it work. You have never ceased to amaze us with your abilities, that's for sure," he said with a chuckle. I wasn't sure if that made me feel better or worse. I'd always been comfortable being 'average' as a human, and I still didn't relish situations which made me stand out as being 'exceptional' as a vampire.

"We'll support you, Bella, no matter what you decide to do," Esme encouraged.

"I'm all for it," Rosalie agreed.

"I just have one question," Emmett said, as a smile stretched across his face, "Is this raid going to involve slaughtering as many of the Volturi as possible?"

"Definitely," I answered with finality. Carlisle looked uncomfortable at the turn our conversation had taken, but I wasn't going to let him talk me out of this.

"Then when do we leave?" Emmett asked eagerly.

"As soon as possible," I answered instantly, and Huilen nodded in agreement. I didn't dare look at Edward, but I could sense the tension coming off his body in waves. I'd have a lot of convincing to do if I was going to make him see reason. Suddenly I felt a blanket of tranquility settle over us, and I mouthed a silent thank you to Jasper. I guessed that meant he was with us, too. That just left Edward.


	11. Chapter 11: Convincing Edward

We left the others to their strategizing and went back to our cottage that night for some 'alone time'. I wasn't sure this was going to be the kind of alone time that I would have liked to have, but we had to work this out between ourselves. I could never do what I was planning to do without his support. When we got to the cottage, I pulled Edward into the bedroom and pushed him toward the bed.

He resisted, grabbing my shoulders and holding me at arm's length. "Bella, I just want to talk to you right now. I'd rather you didn't try to put off having this discussion."

I looked at him with wide eyes. "I wasn't trying to seduce you," I replied in my most innocent voice. I really wasn't, I just wanted to put him in a more agreeable frame of mind. I moved toward the bed and motioned for him to sit with me. When he sat down about two feet away from me, I quickly scooted over and snuggled into his chest.

He sighed, exasperated. "What _are_ you trying to do then?"

"Nothing, just getting comfortable." And trying to buy time to think about what I was going to say.

He seemed to accept that and contented himself with quietly stroking my hair for a minute or so. Then, out of the blue, he asked in a pained voice, "Why are you so set on going over there, Bella? Right from the beginning, I could see in your eyes that you were determined to go. I just don't understand why."

"Because he has our daughter, Edward. I would do _anything_ to get her back." It seemed so simple to me. "Why are you so set against it? That's what doesn't make sense to me."

He kissed the top of my head, then lifted my face to look into my eyes. "What good does it do to send you to take her place, love? When he has you instead of her, all we've done is trade one kind of pain for another."

"Alice and I will be able to get out of there though. I'm sure of it."

"And if it doesn't work out for one reason or another? Would you be willing to take the risk if it was me who was going? Would you be able to send me off not knowing for certain if I'd ever come back?" He thought he had me with that one, and if it were anyone else stuck in that tower, I would have agreed with him. But this was our daughter. If it _had_ been Edward that Aro wanted, I would have wanted him to take this chance. Doing this would guarantee her safety, and the odds were good that Alice and I would get out of there, too. I thought it was well worth the risk.

"I need you to see things from my perspective," I answered him. "This is how I feel about losing Renesmee:" and I let him into the small, locked-up portion of my mind where I was keeping all my pain. He gasped, and I guessed it was more intense than he expected. I closed it up again quickly; I hadn't allowed myself to spend one moment with that pain since the flight home, and revisiting it was more intense than I expected, too. I moved on. "And this is what I've been thinking ever since we found out she was missing." I showed him my thoughts as they had gradually built on each other to form the plan that I had voiced today. I could easily told him, reciting word for word each thought that had come into my head, but I needed him to see it from my point of view so that he would feel the same way I felt about it.

After a few moments, Edward groaned, "You know I'll never be able to argue with you after you subject me to this. You make me feel as if these are my own thoughts and emotions, and how can I attempt to dissuade you when I want to try your idea now, too?"

I smiled and playfully touched the tip of his nose. "That's kind of the point, honey. Just hear me out." I continued the re-play right up until the present moment, and he reflected on it for a long time before he spoke again.

"I think we can make this work," he said thoughtfully, when he had finished.

"I'm so glad you understand," I said with a sigh of relief. That was much easier than I had imagined it would be.

"Shouldn't you and Alice start practicing right away?"

"We will, in a little while. There was something else I wanted to talk about while we're alone." I was setting him up, doing something that might fall under the category of 'seducing' in his book, but I didn't think he would mind now.

"Yes?" He was completely oblivious.

"I love you so much, Edward," I whispered in his ear, as I planted a row of kisses down his neck.

He caught his breath, taken off guard, but he recovered his wits and asked suavely, "Would you care to show me just how much?"

Ahh, he was catching on now. "Of course. Would you prefer me to do it with my mind or my body?"

"Both please, if you don't mind."

Not at all. Alice would just have to wait.


	12. Chapter 12: Mind Games

Edward and I found Alice later that night sitting on a stool inside her mammoth closet. Her eyes had glazed over, and she was as quiet and still as a stone. Jasper sat near her, providing the calm serenity that she needed to retreat so completely into her mind. She spent the entire night absorbed with what she called "housekeeping", tidying up her thoughts and grouping them together under the appropriate categories. I busied myself with scrutinizing her flame while she worked, trying to find the right way to separate the two entities. I practiced until I could envelope first one of the entwined lights and then the other. I wasn't sure which one consisted of her visions, but Edward would help us figure that out later. The four of us didn't move until the next morning when the letter arrived, hand-delivered by a member of the Volturi guard. Carlisle accepted the letter from him and asked him to wait outside for our reply.

The letter was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cullen. Carlisle handed it to Edward. "We can give you some privacy if the two of you would like to read it alone."

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary, Carlisle," Edward responded. He opened the letter and read it aloud.

"To my dear friends, Edward and Bella,

A few of my men happened upon your daughter, Renesmee, in the Amazon rainforest and, finding her vulnerable and unprotected, they brought her to me for safekeeping. I would like to see her returned to you without any trouble. She is truly a precious child, and I am sure you are anxious to have her back safe and sound. I invite you to come to Volterra and reclaim her at your earliest convenient. Also, please extend my invitation of hospitality to your sister, Alice. I have been looking for an excuse to see her again for some time, and this seems to be my golden opportunity. I am looking forward to seeing the three of you shortly. Give my best wishes to Carlisle.

Your servant, Aro"

I wanted to throw up; he talked of our sweet Nessie as if she were nothing more than a lost dog that he had found wondering on the street! And the way he couched his threats in syrupy 'best wishes' had me seeing red. I wanted nothing more than to tear him to shreds. Carlisle cleared his throat and looked at me significantly. He had warned us ahead of time not to make any comments while the messenger was here; everything we said would be reported.

"It looks like we're going to Volterra, Bella," Edward said carefully, but in a voice laced with bile. I supposed Aro would expect us to be angry though. "Alice, would you care to join us?" he asked.

"Aro's wish is my command," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Carlisle, please tell the messenger that Alice, Bella and I will travel to Volterra 'at our earliest convenience'," Edward finished with a sneer.

We all waited tensely as Carlisle passed on the reply and the messenger ran back through the woods. When we were sure he was out of earshot, the profanities erupted.

"The #$%, he can't even bring himself to spell out his own #$%&* treachery! He makes it sound as if he were inviting you to a (&*^%$# tea party!" Emmett roared. I let loose with my own share of barroom insults, but then immediately felt guilty. It wasn't doing Renesmee any good to stand here disparaging Aro when every minute we wasted meant prolonging her stay in Volterra. We needed to get to work.

"Alice, Edward," I said, "We've got work to do. Let's go to the cottage where we can hear ourselves think." No pun intended.

When we had composed ourselves enough to concentrate again on what we were doing, Alice started. "Ok, guys, I'm looking into the future to see what Esme has planned for the new garden she's putting in out back. Edward, are you with me?"

"Yes…Hydrangeas, African lilies…"

"Okay, now, Bella, try to shield my visions." I stretched the elastic of my shield out until it licked the edge of Alice's flame. Now I could see the intertwined lights, and I carefully fitted my shield around just the one on the side nearest me.

"Okay, getting anything, Edward?" I asked.

"Uh…I'm still seeing rock pathways and cedar benches, Bells."

"Darn, hold on a second." I delicately twisted my shield so that it wrapped around the opposite light this time.

"That's it! You did it!" he shouted. "I can't see her vision anymore, but I can still hear her thoughts." I was more familiar now with the difference in texture between the thin tongues of fire after my prolonged scrutiny last night. The first one that I had tried felt much more solid and substantial when I wound my shield around it, and the second was wispy and light, trickier to hold on to. I knew now which was the right one, and I was certain I could find it on the first try next time.

"Now, for the hard part," Edward said with a hint of worry in his voice. "We need to test whether some of Alice's other thoughts can be included with her visions." He was obviously still apprehensive, but he was being uncharacteristically good-natured so far. I hoped he would remain upbeat.

"What's the progress report on the housekeeping, Alice," I asked.

"Progress is good. I set aside an entire closet, figuratively of course, for what I call 'Incriminating Evidence'," she said, laughing with delight. "I don't know why I never thought of this before, it's so nice to have new shelves and drawers and cupboards, all labeled and perfectly organized. I have so much more room in here now!" Edward and I just laughed. I should have known that Alice, with her love for organizing clothes and closets, would relish the idea of designing a new layout for her own brain.

"I'm glad to have enlightened you," I said, "Is your 'Incriminating Evidence' closet also housing your visions?"

She closed her eyes and retreated into the depths of her mind for a few minutes. "It is now," she chirped, when she was done.

"Good, let's test it," I said, "Go through your drawers and pull out something that would really knock Aro off his feet."

"That would do it," Edward said, hearing her thought and chuckling at it.

I probed her flame with my shield, looking for the one with the least resistance. I touched one and then the other, and oddly they seemed almost equal in heft this time. I realized that now her visions were cloaked in thoughts, so they didn't stand out quite as obviously as they had before. I thought I could still detect where the flame felt slightly less firm though, so I started there. It was harder now to find the line of separation between the twin flames, and it took all my concentration to slide my shield along what I imagined to be the outline of her thought-cloaked visions and then enclose them. It was like drawing a line between one shade of gray and another at the exact point where the colors merged. In the dark. With my eyes closed.

"You've got it, Bella. Good job," he encouraged.

"That wasn't too bad," I said, even though I was starting to feel the mental fatigue, and I wasn't at all sure that I had done it quite right.

"The only problem is that we can't test this part effectively," Edward said, voicing my concerns, "because I can only see what Alice is thinking at the moment, which is something that she hand-picked. Aro will be able to see all her thoughts, and he might find something important that she overlooked." Or that _I_ had overlooked.

Alice snorted, clearly offended. "Edward! Don't you have any faith in me?"

"I'm just nervous because we won't know for sure whether or not this is going to work until it's too late," he explained.

"It'll work, Edward, I know it will," I assured him. It _had_ to work.

"If you were Siobhan, I'd be inclined to believe you, but as far as I know, you only have one superpower," he teased, "and it doesn't involve bending the outcome of events to your will."

"Well, in that case, we'll just have to give her a call," I said with a shrug.


	13. Chapter 13: Departure

Edward, Alice and I worked all day and all night, and when the sun rose the next day we had to admit that we had done everything that we could do to prepare. Edward and I had tested our communication farther than we ever had before, and it worked perfectly. Alice had prepared false visions for Edward to sample over and over again, until he had finally declared that they were perfectly authentic-looking. And Edward had pushed me to fine-tune my shielding until I could do it in the blink of an eye. Finally, it was time to put our plan into action. The rest of our family had been busy finalizing details and making preparations for our departure, and they were ready to go when we returned to the house. Carlisle gave us a last-minute briefing on our way to the airport.

"Jacob has gathered his pack," he informed us with a frown. It had been Carlisle's intention to keep the wolves out of this, but, of course, with Renesmee involved, we could not hide our plans from Jacob. And Jacob, being Jacob, had immediately taken matters into his own hands. "The difficulty of getting to Italy has deterred the pack for the moment, but Jacob insisted that I let him come with us. He says the rest of the wolves will meet us there when they can."

"Where is he then?" I asked, the annoyance that I so often felt toward Jacob creeping into my tone. It frustrated me to no end when he butted in and bossed us around as if he had some sort of claim on Renesmee just because he had gone and imprinted on her. Stupid, obnoxious wolf.

"He'll be at the airport," Carlisle answered. "He's trying to smooth things over with the parents of the younger members of the pack." Of course, he was out bossing other people around, I should have known. "Huilen left yesterday morning," Carlisle continued, ignoring my sour look, "after the letter arrived. She volunteered to return to the Amazon in order to ask Zafrina, Senna and Kachiri if they would be willing to fight with us, should the need arise. Then, Huilen will fly to London where, if all goes well, she will be reunited with Nahuel."

"Yes, Nahuel will be released," Alice informed us. "Aro isn't going to give us any trouble about that as long as we comply with his wishes."

"And as long as nothing unfavorable happens to change his mind," Edward intoned mutinously. Uh oh, the upbeat mood was slipping now that we were underway. Was he still concerned about Aro finding something in Alice's thoughts?

"There is nothing we can do about that, Edward. We'll just have to take things one step at a time," Carlisle said. He paused for a moment, but none of us had anything to add. We'd been over this before. We would take the risk and roll with the consequences, whatever they may be. Carlisle continued, "Huilen says they will both stay to do whatever is necessary to get Bella and Alice out safely, too. Esme, Jasper, and myself will fly with the three of you as far as London, then you will continue on to Rome with Jacob. I've warned Jacob that he must not go with you to Volterra, but I expect he will put up a fight. Make sure that he stays behind in Rome. We don't want him starting any fights while he's there. The rest of us will stay put while you meet with Aro in Volterra, then Edward, Jacob and Renesmee, Nahuel, Brienay and Vauliel will return to London where we will all wait to 'hear' from Bella. Once we know what the situation is inside Volterra, we will decide what will be needed to get you out of there. I hope it does not come to a fight," Carlisle shuddered, a pacifist to the core, "but knowing Aro, there isn't likely to be another way, so we have made contingency plans for the worst case scenario. Emmett and Rose, after dropping us off at the airport, will return to Forks, where they will wait to hear from me. If our situation necessitates it, they will seek out the American vampires and bring as many of them as they can to London. At the same time, Esme, Jasper and I will disperse to gather the vampires on that side of the world. Edward, you will set up our 'home base' somewhere out of the way in the English countryside, where you can keep everyone organized as our friends begin to arrive." He paused solemnly. "If it comes to a battle, we hope to be ready to fight in a week. We will have to move very quickly. The less time Alice and Bella have to spend masquerading in Volterra the better." We all nodded. I thoroughly agreed.

On arriving in Seattle, we found Jacob waiting impatiently for us, pacing franticly back and forth on the sidewalk outside the airport entrance.

"It's about time," he complained. "What took so long?" No one so much as looked in his direction, and he stalked after us, muttering obscenities under his breath.

We said the first of our goodbyes with our hearts in our throats. It was difficult to leave Emmett and Rose on such uncertain footing, but I wouldn't allow myself to think that this might be the last time I would see them. "Goodbye, Rose. Goodbye, Emmett," I said with a kiss for each.

"Don't tell, Aro," Emmett joked, "but I've got my sights set on his crown jewels," referring to Jane and Alec, Aro's two most valuable offensive fighters. Emmett was always good for a laugh, and we parted on a light note.

The flight to London was long and my patience was wearing thin. I was getting very anxious to hold Renesmee in my arms again, even if it would only be for a brief moment. I felt increasingly nervous and distracted as we neared our destination, and I could tell I wouldn't be able to think clearly again until I was finally reunited with my daughter. When it came time to say goodbye to Carlisle, Esme and Jasper, I could barely focus. Almost all of my thoughts were centered on Nessie now.

"Alice, Bella," Carlisle said, "be very careful. Don't underestimate Aro; he's very insightful. Edward, you'll have to stay clear of his touch while you're there, and we'll just have to hope that he doesn't get pushy." A small portion of my mind registered this warning automatically. It was something Edward and I had already talked about. I could screen Alice's thoughts, but not Edward's, so he was our weak link. I wished he didn't have to come, but Renesmee would need him since I would not be leaving with her. If it came to it, I would have to shield his entire mind, and Aro would just have to deal with it.

"Don't worry, Carlisle," Edward assured him, "I'll be back soon with our little Nessie."

This made everyone smile, and we finished our goodbyes quickly. I hugged Carlisle and Esme fiercely, whispering, "I love you both." I turned to look for Jasper and saw that he and Alice were saying a painful goodbye. They stared into each other's eyes intensely, passionately, so completely wrapped up in each other that I was afraid that they would be left broken and useless when they finally pulled apart. Alice whispered with her eyes still locked on Jasper's, "I love you, and we will be together again, don't ever doubt it."

"You found me the first time by sheer tenacity, and I know you'll find your way back to me this time as well. I love you." Then, Jasper took Alice's hand, and they turned back toward the rest of us. I searched their faces and saw no hint of the heartbreak and despair that I expected; their eyes shone with determination, and they were completely confident in each other. I felt a spasm of pain, knowing my own separation from Edward would be equally intense and fearing that we wouldn't handle it nearly as well. Thankfully, I could put it off for several more hours.


	14. Chapter 14: Volterra

I decided to completely ignore Jacob during the remainder of our trip, which turned out to be easy enough since he hadn't been able to get a seat near us. I sent up a quick prayer of thanks to the powers that be for that piece of luck. I didn't want him interrupting my last few moments with Edward or making me worry even more about Renesmee. This way, I wouldn't have to think about him at all until the plane touched down in Rome.

I prepared myself for an onslaught following the plane's landing, but I hadn't expected Jacob's silent persistence. We tried several times during the process of getting our luggage and arranging for a rental car to re-establish Carlisle's injunction for him to wait at the airport for Edward's return. Jacob ignored us, simply following on our tails with a grim, determined expression on his face. I began to fear that nothing we said would ever stay him, and I scrabbled in my head for something that would knock some sense into him. Was there anything that he was afraid of? No…well, yes, he was deathly afraid of losing Nessie. I needed to work that to our advantage.

"Jacob," I said, sternly, turning the full force of my glare on him, "If you follow us to Volterra, and if you persist in your dog-brained idiocy, I can guarantee you that things will not end well." He just glared right back at me. "Aro showed an interest in your ability to shift shapes last time we saw him, and he will very likely find a reason to detain you in Volterra if you give him the opportunity. Be warned: I will _not_ stand in his way, if that is his wish. If you want to fly back to London with Nessie, you will wait for her _right here_," I finished with a growl.

"Geez, Bells," Jacob whined, "you don't have to get so huffy about it."

"Then you'll stay?"

"Fine. I'll stay. But you better not be long," he grumbled, "or I might have to come looking."

"You do, and you'll risk being left behind," Edward countered. "I will leave with Renesmee for London whether you're here or not." That seemed to resonate with him. Still, I knew that if we left him waiting there for too long, he would soon convince himself that the risk of being deserted was minimal. We needed to get moving.

On arriving in Volterra, we were quickly ushered into Aro's inner chamber. The Volturi were obviously expecting us and had prepared for our arrival. The room was very full, and I recognized Alec, Jane, Heidi, Demetri, Felix, Renata and several other faces that I remembered from our encounter three years ago, but there were many new faces here as well. All gathered to retain Alice and I should we resist, I guessed.

"Greetings, my friends," Aro said as he ghosted across the room toward us. "I know Caius and Marcus would be pleased to see you again. Demetri, would you tell them we have guests?" Once Demetri had exited out the side door, Aro continued, "Chelsea and her mate, Afton, have been taking very good care of your daughter for you." A snarl ripped up my throat and venom filled my mouth as I interpreted the hidden meaning behind his words. Chelsea was that one that had a power over relationships; if she had dared to try turning Renesmee against us, I would rip her limb from limb whether it cost me my life or not. At the same time, Edward and Alice had lunged forward into attack positions, and their low growls filled the room. "I'm sorry if that does not meet your approval," Aro continued calmly, "but Afton was one of the ones who rescued her in the jungle, and it seemed fitting that she should stay with someone with whom she was familiar. I assure you, she is doing very well."

The miserable liar, I wanted to tear the lips right off his face. I was sick of his sugarcoated half-truths. "Where is she? I want to see her."

"Of course, dear. Heidi, would you ask Chelsea to bring Renesmee to us?" Heidi left, and Aro turned back to me. "Now, since you are apparently not in the mood for pleasantries, I have a matter of business that I would like to discuss with you while we await her arrival."

Here it comes. I stole a glance at Alice and Edward who had straightened up but remained tensed. We were expecting his demands and were ready to meet them. However, before he could continue, Caius and Marcus entered the room with Demetri on their heels.

"Ahhh, Caius, Marcus, we were just settling down to business. I'm glad you could join us," Aro said, reaching to touch their hands and confer with their thoughts. Apparently they were equally eager to proceed, because Aro looked up before a full second had elapsed. "Now, Bella," he said sweetly, but firmly, "I have done a favor for you. I went to great lengths to ensure the safety of your daughter, and I would like you to do something for me in return."

"What is it, Aro?"

"I have need of your services, and I would greatly appreciate it if you would remain here with me, just for a few weeks, and allow me the privilege of making you a temporary member of my guard." Interesting. Maybe he wouldn't ask for Alice to stay, after all.

Then, as if on cue, Chelsea entered with Renesmee, and Edward and I flashed to her side. She was in our arms in an instant, and we were smothering her with kisses. "Oh, Nessie, my sweet baby," I murmured into her hair.

Edward frantically examined her. "Are you okay? Has anyone hurt you?"

She reached up to pull us closer and started to show us what had happened when the Volturi found her and the others at Joham's house. Aro saw what she was doing and signaled to Chelsea. Renesmee was out of my arms before I realized what had happened, and Demetri and Felix were standing in front of us, ready to restrain us if the need arose. I looked right past them, not paying any attention to their presence. All my thoughts and all my senses were focused solely on my daughter.

"Aro, I will do whatever you want me to do," I said with my eyes still on Nessie, "on one condition: I would like you to send Nahuel and his sisters home as well."

"Well, if we are bartering," he responded coolly, "I would be glad to grant you this additional favor in exchange for Alice's services as well as yours." I remembered Carlisle's warning not to underestimated Aro. He had been one step ahead of us this time. Thankfully, we had already been prepared for Aro to ask for both of us to stay.

"I expected as much of you, Aro," Alice replied, "and I agree to your terms, disdainful as they are."

Aro looked mildly surprised at this. He had most likely expected us to put up a fight, and no doubt he wondered why we had surrendered so easily. He reached for Alice's hand, and I reacted, instantly obscuring her evidence closet. I prayed that her thoughts would all be in order.

"Thank you, my dear," he said, caressing her hand, "I am sure you will find me an agreeable employer." He paused for a moment then, his brow wrinkling in confusion. "What is this, Alice?" he asked. I heard both irritation and astonishment in his voice. Something had caught him off guard, and he didn't like being surprised. I risked a glance at Edward to gauge his reaction to Aro's thoughts. Edward met my gaze and nodded imperceptibly, then reached over to squeeze my hand. I wasn't sure what to make of that. Edward, who had fretted incessantly over this very circumstance, wasn't worried about what Aro had found in Alice's thoughts?

"What is _what, _Aro?" Alice returned, confused as well.

"Your thoughts are all so organized. It's as if you categorized them into folders in a filing cabinet!" The awe in his voice quickly gave way to suspicion. "What's going on," he demanded, narrowing his eyes and turning to glare at each of us in turn. I could feel my teeth biting into my bottom lip, but I couldn't make myself relax. Would he discover what we had done?

"What I do with my thoughts is my business, Aro," Alice retorted, venom dripping from every word. "I happen to like having a tidy mind, and I didn't realize that I needed to ask your permission before I made changes inside my own head."

"I've never seen anything like it," he admitted, grudgingly. "You'll have to tell me how you did it."

"Don't count on it." He scowled at her impertinence, but didn't press the issue. I breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, he hadn't seen anything important, and he didn't know that she was hiding anything from him. So far so good.

"Well, then," he dismissed the subject and turned to Edward, offering him his hand. "Edward, my hospitality extends to you as well, if you and your daughter would like to stay."

I had my shield ready, but Edward ignored Aro's hand and stiffly gestured toward Renesmee. "May I?" he asked.

"Of course," Aro waved his hand, "be my guest." He looked slightly irritated by Edward's avoidance but let it go, seemingly reluctant to push his luck any further today.

Edward gathered Renesmee into his arms and returned with her to my side in one swift movement. "I won't be needing your _hospitality_," Edward spit the word, "We did not intend to stay long, and I have a flight booked for this afternoon. If you'll just give me some privacy so that I can say goodbye to my wife and sister, then I will take my leave."

"Certainly, Edward. There is a small room just down this corridor that you can have to yourselves for as long as you wish. Felix will show you the way." His politeness irritated me to no end. I supposed he liked to think that we had no idea what was really going on beneath his facade. Well...I decided I couldn't begrudge him that; after all, we had a little facade of our own.

I knew they would be listening to everything we said, but there really wasn't a lot that we could say anyways. It was enough just to hold each other and savor what little time we had left together. Renesmee showed us everything that had happened to her, while Edward quietly translated for Alice. I was comforted to know that she really had been well cared for, even though she had been terrified. She didn't know why they had killed Joham or why they had taken her and her half-vampire cousins. As she replayed the events of her captivity, she was constantly wondering why these things had happened. Nothing had been explained, though Chelsea and Afton had assured her that she would be able to go home as soon as her Momma came to get her. Finally, she arrived at the scene in the tower a few minutes ago. This was the most puzzling thing that had happened to her yet. She replayed Edward's last words to Aro and the question in her mind felt like an accusation to me. She wanted to know why Alice and I were staying behind. When we didn't answer her immediately, she asked aloud, "_Why_, Daddy?"

"Renesmee," he said in a broken voice, "it was the only way to get you back. You have to believe us: it will be ok."

"It won't be for long, my precious," I whispered, "I promise." Everything in me wanted to give her a more substantial explanation in order to make it possible for her to put faith in my promise. She was a smart girl though, and she would see the unspoken words behind what would sound like nothing more than meaningless placations to the ears of our eavesdroppers. She would hold on to that until Edward could explain it to her later. I pressed her hand to my face, and I saw a picture of myself with a tear trickling down one smooth cheek. I thought she must have conjured this up until I realized that my left eye was prickling, and I felt the wet trail that led down one side of my face. My first vampire tear. Renesmee silently traced the path that my tear had left, and her touch linked me to her mind as she thought of the last time we had said goodbye to each other because of the Volturi, the time in the field when I had prepared to send her away with Jacob. She pressed her hand over my heart and repeated my words from that day in her mind, "_In our hearts we'll always be together. I love you, Momma_."

I nodded and repeated something else that I had told her that day, "I love you, too. More than my own life." I buried my face in her hair and inhaled her scent. It helped to soothe the ache that was starting to throb in my chest. Then I reluctantly passed her to Alice so that I could say goodbye to Edward.

My goal was to keep this short and sweet so that Renesmee wouldn't have to see her parents suffering. Edward took me in his arms, and I unshielded my mind. I pulled up my blurry human memory of the moment that I had seen him for the first time from across the cafeteria. _You think that my bad luck brought us together_, I said in my head, _but I think it was fate_. Then I jumped to another memory, from our first honeymoon on Isle Esme. _We belong together_, I had said, as I approached him with the dark ocean all around us.

Edward remembered his line. "Forever," he said, along with the voice in my head. _Yes, forever_, I reaffirmed. _We'll find our way back to each other. We always do_. I hoped this would be enough to carry both of us through the days ahead. We parted with a kiss that sent a painful fire coursing through my veins, reminding me of the red-hot venom that accomplished my transformation. I would willingly endure that fire again if it could erase the agony I felt now.


	15. Chapter 15: Treachery

By the time Alice and I returned alone to the tower room, most of the large crowd had drifted away. Aro, Caius and Marcus remained, with their personal bodyguards. Caius and Marcus were holding new cloaks, and Aro indicated with a wave of his hand that they bestow them on us. He seemed smug to me as he watched Marcus and Caius draping the dark, hooded cloaks over our shoulders. I didn't have enough emotion left in me to care at the moment.

"I never thought I would see the day that Alice and Bella donned the cloaks of the Volturi," Aro gloated. "How does it feel?"

Personally, I'd have preferred to be dipped in burning oil. "It feels fine," I muttered, reminding myself that we had a façade to keep up.

"What are your plans for us, Aro," Alice demanded. "We want to get to work so that we can fulfill our obligation to you and go back to our family."

Aro chuckled to himself. "Well, my sweet, let me think. I haven't refined the details yet, but I do have a vague idea…," he trailed off, lost in thought. Alice glanced casually in my direction, and then suddenly her eyes turned hard, boring holes into me. I took it for a signal of some sort and puffed out my shield so that it enclosed her along with me. Her gaze lost its edge, and she blinked rapidly several times, trying to remain focused while a vision took control of her mind. Aro's thoughts must have triggered something for her.

When she came out of it, her face was full of rage. "Never mind, I see now what you want," she sneered viciously. "You want us to sit by quietly while you pick off our family members one by one. It won't be much of a fight now that you've rendered them vulnerable and defenseless," she accused. The room echoed with angry snarls, and it took me a second, in my horror, to realize that they were coming from me. I was stunned and appalled. Even in our worst imaginings, we hadn't thought that he would use Alice and I to gain an advantage over our family. I had to warn Edward immediately. Aro was focused on Alice now, so I inched the edge of my shield away from my mind, and shouted at the top of my mental lungs, _EDWARD, HE WANTS TO KILL YOU ALL!_ I was sure that would get through to him, since he wasn't even out of the country yet. He probably could have heard that one if he'd been on the moon! Then, imagining his bewilderment at such a horrifying message, I decided to keep my mind unshielded for as long as I dared, so that he could see and hear what was happening as we spoke with Aro.

"What did you see?" Aro asked Alice, stretching out his hands toward her greedily.

Alice shied away from his touch in disgust. "I saw Carlisle coming here alone, trying to reason with you. He asked you to remember your long-standing friendship with him and allow us to go home with him."

Aro chuckled again. "That is so like my friend Carlisle."

"And the rest of it is so like you," Alice retorted disdainfully, "I saw that you would ignore his pleas, and when he refuses to abandon his family and surrender himself to your will, you will have him _murdered_." Alice couldn't control the hate in her voice, and the last word came out as a low growl. I shuddered at the treachery that Alice had described. I knew that the part about Carlisle coming alone had been a fabrication on Alice's part, but I had no doubt that Alice's real vision had manifested Aro's despicable intentions toward our family all too clearly.

Aro ignored our angry reactions. "Let me see the vision," he demanded roughly, reaching for her again. I adjusted my shield so that we were both protected again but left Alice's thoughts open to Aro's perusal. I hoped that she had had enough time to get things tidied up in there.

Aro watched the false vision she had prepared, enthralled with what he saw. Alice must have done a good job with this one. Finally, he turned to Caius and Marcus, and said with a hard edge to his voice, "It seems that we are indeed to expect a visit from our old friend, Carlisle, in a week's time. How nice to know these things ahead of time so that we can prepare! Please, excuse us," he continued, looking over his shoulder at Alice and I, "we have much to discuss. Felix and Demetri will show you to your quarters, where you will remain until I have further need of you." His voice had turned cold as he glared at us out of the corner of his eye. Judging from his tone, I guessed that we would be treated more like prisoners than guests now that his little charade was over. Probably our 'quarters' would be guarded, and I doubted that we would be allowed out anytime soon.

We were placed in a small stone room in another part of the castle, and as I had guessed there were sentries posted outside the door. Still, this prison cell wouldn't have held us for half a minute if we had wanted to be free. The many guards roaming the corridors and guarding the exits would have deterred us, but I thought the two of us would stand a decent chance of escaping if we had really wanted to do it.

I looked at Alice and shrugged. She raised her eyebrows and gestured around the room as if to ask if we were going to put up with this, and I nodded decidedly. I was determined to stay. Aro's treachery had convinced me. _Edward_, I began, broadcasting my thoughts again, _Aro is an evil man, blinded by greed and power and jealousy, and he is determined to wipe the Cullen family from the face of the earth. He can't bear the thought of Carlisle continuing to flaunt his happy, talented family, especially now that he knows we are capable of assembling enough devoted friends to form an army that revels that of the Volturi. We have to put an end to this now, or we will be haunted by him for the rest of our existence_.Aro's true nature was obvious enough to anyone with eyes now that he had dropped his pretenses. I could only speculate on the workings of Aro's mind, but I imagined that our victory over the Volturi three years ago had plagued him to no end. I envisioned his thoughts constantly revolving in bitterness and envy until his mind twisted and warped into the mind of a murderer. I didn't have to guess at his intentions now that he had acquired Alice and I. Our absence left Carlisle without his best defenses, making it possible for Aro to exact his revenge. Or so he thought.

I turned to face Alice and took both her hands in mine. "Alice?" I whispered. I wanted to talk to her, to reassure her, but I had to be careful of the words I chose to speak aloud. "Jasper will be ok, Alice."

_He is going to kill them_, she mouthed. I shook my head vigorously.

_We can help them fight him_, I mouthed back. She studied my face and then nodded, her features hardening into determined lines. She squeezed my hand, and said, "Edward will be fine, too." Yes, even if it cost me my life, I would make sure of that.

Alice and I drifted off into our own thoughts. Mine centered on how we would undermine Aro's plans, and how he would be in for a surprise when Carlisle showed up in a week's time with a full-blown army. Of course, Carlisle would not want it to come to a fight, but I hoped that he would see the necessity of taking action when Edward relayed what had just happened with Aro. Alice and I would have to coordinate our plans in silence apparently, which would be frustrating, but…. My thoughts derailed as I realized with a start that Alice's eyes were unfocused now, scanning the future for a hint of what was to come. "What is it?" I asked softly, when she was done.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking, that's all," she said aloud for the benefit of our guards.

_Carlisle_, she mouthed, _has made his decision. They will gather an army._


	16. Chapter 16: Deception

The days and nights passed very slowly for Alice and I in what we sullenly referred to as 'our dungeon' now. Our spirits had sunk lower and lower as the days continued to pass with no word from Aro, and the hope that we had placed so eagerly in Carlisle's army began to wan. We had only the sounds of what little trivial conversation we could make to comfort us, and the activities that we overheard in the castle around us did little to boost our confidence. Judging from the sheer multitude of vampires that came and went every day, it sounded as if Aro's guard had swelled to twice the numbers that we had seen three years ago. We could only guess that he had been amassing an army for an eventual overthrow of the Cullen family, when, as luck would have it, he stumbled across a much easier way. Finding Renesmee had opened a new door for him. Aro probably considered all these extra guard members superfluous now, but we knew he would be grateful for every single one in a few short days. The outcome of that battle didn't look so good to us anymore. Alice spent a good portion of her time searching the future for indications of what was going to happen, and she frequently saw flashes of our many friends, gathering together in England from all corners of the globe. This would have been encouraging if it weren't for the fact that we now worried we were bringing them into a death trap. The only hope we had of winning rested on the element of surprise. For that, we knew our family was relying on us.

Alice also saw a lot of what Aro planned to do after he finished with Carlisle, and it wasn't good. He would kill Esme, Rose and Emmett first because they didn't possess any special gifts, and therefore, he didn't consider their lives worth preserving. They would be destroyed, simply to get them out of the way. When only Jasper, Edward and Renesmee remained, he would try to reason with them. He would offer them their lives in exchange for their service. If they refused, he would not hesitate to destroy them as well. Their gifts would be useful tools to have on hand, but he could live without them. Alice and I, on the other hand, were irreplaceable to him, and he was determined to eventually break us. When we had nothing else left in this world, he believed that we would give in and put our gifts to work in his service. Alice could see that he would never kill us, simply because of the sheer wastefulness of such an action, but he would never allow us live our own lives again either. He would hound us for the rest of our days. The only comfort we had in the face of these dismaying visions was that Aro made these plans on the pretense that Carlisle would come alone. And that wasn't going to happen.

At last, after four days and four nights of confinement, someone came to fetch us from our cell. I wasn't sure what to hope for at this point, but at least an interview with Aro might give us some helpful information to pass on to Edward. I hadn't said much to him lately, except to let him know that nothing had changed yet. I didn't want him to worry if he didn't hear from me at all, but I also didn't want him to see that Alice and I were losing hope. Maybe now I'd finally be able to give him something substantial.

We were brought before Aro, Caius and Marcus in the tower room, as before. Only three other vampires were in the room with them: Renata, Felix and Demetri. Just enough to ensure that we didn't try anything funny. I noted that Jane and Alec would normally have been here, and it made me smile to realize that they were rendered useless by my presence. It probably drove them crazy to be excluded from an important meeting because their gifts were ineffective.

Aro greeted us with a chilling smile. "Alice and Bella, have you been enjoying your stay?"

What did he expect us to say? Oh yes, the accommodations are excellent. I rolled my eyes.

When neither of us answered, Aro continued. "I'd like to confer with the two of you for a moment, if I may." Apparently he was being polite again, which probably meant that he was after something. We remained silent. "Alice? Has anything changed regarding Carlisle?"

"No, nothing has changed," she answered glumly, but without hesitation. We were totally unconcerned with Aro's prying touch now; I could shield her visions with ease. It reminded me that for vampires, practice always makes perfect. Alice had also been practicing her new area of expertise: deception. Looking forward to another chance at pulling the wool over his eyes, she had prepared new visions for Aro. There were a few repeats of Carlisle's solitary trip to Volterra, to reinforce his harmlessness. A few visions of the rest of the family, waiting at home for him, fully expecting him to come back with Alice and I. A few images of the utterly helpless mess they would be in when they learned of Carlisle's death. And the jewel: a vision of Alice and I eventually surrendering ourselves to Aro's use after he had destroyed our lives. This, we hoped would fuel Aro's pride and arrogance, making him think that nothing could possibly go wrong.

Aro eyed Alice distrustfully, extending his hand toward her motionless palm. "If you don't mind, I'd like to verify that for myself."

"Go ahead, Aro," she challenged. "I have nothing to hide."

He examined her thoughts briefly and then turned to address Caius and Marcus. "It is just as I assured you it would be, Caius. Carlisle spares no thought for himself. He is coming alone and has taken no measures for reinforcements or retaliation."

Caius snorted. "Typical." They had swallowed it hook, line and sinker.

"So, as I suggested," Aro continued, ignoring our presence, "it may be best to send away a portion of the guard, particularly all the new members."

What! I stifled an involuntary gasp before it escaped my lips and forced myself not to glance in Alice's direction. Hope flooded every cell of my body. I deftly pushed my shield away from my mind so that Edward could see and hear it for himself. The odds might swing in our favor after all.

"Yes, you are right" Caius agreed, "the fewer witnesses the better. What should we do with them?"

"Who cares? Send them hunting, send them on errands, send them to search for new recruits. Anything will do, just get as many of them away from Volterra as possible." I wanted to break out into a song and dance right there in front of all of them. We had to continue to play our parts through to the end though, I reminded myself. We couldn't give ourselves away now when we were so close. Above all else, Aro must remain unsuspecting.

Then, he turned back to us. "As for the two of you, I am going to ask you to do something for me, and I would be grateful if you would remember the obligation you have to me."

I eyed him warily, considering the best way to proceed. I knew I had a fine line to walk between convincing Aro that we were giving up hope and making him suspicious, and I'd never been a good actress. I decided it would be best to remain angry, rather than pretending defeat. Aro would be surprised if we gave up too easily anyway. "Spell it out," I demanded.

"As you know, Carlisle will soon be under my control. Alice has probably also informed you of what will befall the rest of your family. However, in case she spared you the agony, let me _spell it out _for you." His words dripped with irony. "We are going to hunt down every last one of them. To be fair, they will be given a choice: join me or face the consequences. I think we can all guess what they will choose, but there may be a few surprises. In any case, their lives, and yours, are in my hands. My reason for saying this is to warn you." His voice became low and sinister, emphasizing his point. "If you try to help them, your lot will fall with theirs. If by some miracle you escape the castle, you will be hunted to extinction along with the rest of your family. However, if you choose to remain here with me, I will spare you."

"So let me get this straight," I said, pouring the fire of my hatred into each word, "all you're asking of us is that we stay here and not interfere while you kill every member of our family? Are you really so warped that you believe we would even consider that?"

"Alice," he said calmly, "Tell her what you saw."

She let out a huge sigh. "I saw it all, Bella. Everything that he's told us: it's going to happen. And when they're...all...gone...we're going to stay and work for him." She stared at the floor as she said this, unable to meet my eyes. She was amazing, even I was almost convinced. I was afraid to say a word, lest it spoil the effect of her act. I just stared at her, hoping that I looked properly bewildered.

"So you see, Bella, there's no use fighting it, "Aro chided, "Make it easier on yourself and give up now."

My eyes still on Alice, I arranged my features into a portrait of betrayal. Then I looked at Aro, who was absolutely basking in the light of his coming victory, and I let my face sag into the down-turned lines of despair. I had probably gone overboard with that one, but Aro seemed to buy it. "I knew you'd both come to see things my way eventually," he crowed. "I have no further need for you at the moment. Felix, escort them back to their room, please." I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. The solitude of that room would be welcome now.

When we were alone I couldn't help taking Alice's hands and breaking into a silent dance. _Alice, you were amazing_, I mouthed, grabbing her face in my hands, _The Volturi are going down! _She just rolled her eyes.

_No thanks to you, _she teased silently. Humph. I didn't think my performance was _that_ bad.


	17. Chapter 17: Strategizing

We didn't see or hear from anyone again until the day of Carlisle's expected visit. Aro came to our cell that morning to check with Alice in order to make sure that everything was still going according to plan. As far as we could tell, everything was going exactly according to plan, _our_ plan at least. Aro still thought we were all going to fall right into his lap, and we were more than happy to let him continue making his errant assumptions.

"You will not be permitted to see Carlisle while he is here," Aro informed us after scanning Alice's thoughts. "You will stay here and stay quiet, if you value your lives." Why was he looking only at me? "I know that Alice has no thought for mutiny," he explained, seeing the question in my eyes. "I hope that you will follow her example." I scowled, but it was more diffident than defiant, and he interpreted it as surrender. When Aro left, our sentries went with him. We overheard him telling them to join the hunting expedition that was getting ready to leave. We would be able to communicate more freely now, but there were still many vampire ears in the castle that could easily listen in on our conversations if we weren't careful.

"Alice," I whispered in a voice that barely made a sound, "are they going to be ready in time?"

"It looks like it," she replied. "I see a large group gathering together on the English moors, and at the moment I count thirty-five vampires."

"Thirty-five?! Can you see who is there?"

Some of the vampires Alice saw in her vision were strangers to her, she explained, but they seemed to be friends of our friends. She saw the entire Denali coven, and the American nomads, Mary, Peter, Charlotte and Randall, who had all come with Emmett and Rosalie. Next to Mary stood one of the new vampires, and we assumed him to be her mate. The Amazonians had come back with Huilen, and Nahuel was with them, along with two beautiful girls who could only be Brienay and Vauliel. Jasper had returned with Benjamin and Tia, but Amun and Kebi had not come. There were two other Egyptian vampires with them that Alice had never seen before, and she thought that Benjamin and Tia must have split with Amun and formed their own coven. Of course, Maggie, Siobhan and Liam were there, as they had promised they would be. The Romanians had also shown up again, hoping for the battle that had eluded them three years ago. It looked like Carlisle hadn't been able to track down Alistair, Charles and Makenna, the European nomads. Either that, or they didn't want anything to do with us and our Volturi problems anymore, I thought. There were also two new vampires who looked to be Spanish in origin who standing with the Denalis, and Alice guessed that they were old friends of Eleazar and Carmen.

Alice couldn't see the wolves, so we didn't have any idea how many of them had made it. We knew they all would have been far too eager to join the fight, but I was pretty sure most of them would have a hard time clearing a trip to Italy with their parents. Thank God. Alice was annoyed that any of them had shown up because they obscured her vision and made it nearly impossible for her to see any details about the battle. She hated going into any situation blind, and with something as important as this, it would have been nice to at least have an idea of what was going to happen ahead of time.

"Can you tell what their strategy is going to be, Alice?" I asked when she was done describing the scene.

"They're going to wait until dark to make their move, so that they can travel across the countryside without attracting any attention. Other than the timing, I'm not sure of anything yet. They're probably still working out their plans." I grimaced, nervous about how this would all play out since we couldn't coordinate our plans with theirs.

Alice noticed my worried face. "We may have to wait until they get here and play it by ear, Bella." I nodded, and she continued. "We can at least figure out between ourselves what our own strategy will be. Then you can let Edward know what we're planning." This cheered me quite a bit. It would be comforting to have a plan and to know that Edward was in on it.

I thought about what I would need to do. "My first priority will be to protect them as they approach so that Alec and Jane won't be able to get to them."

"Will you be able to protect us and the approaching army at the same time?" Worry creased her forehead.

"I think so, at least until things get heated up. I don't think I can fight and shield an army at the same time," I said with a regretful smile. The logistics of fighting a battle from the wrong side of the field would be interesting.

"Then, someone is going to have to take out Jane and Alec pretty quickly."

"Emmett has already claimed that privilege," I joked weakly. "I'm sure he'll make quick work of them." They were both so tiny, and without the use of their gifts, I couldn't imagine them putting up much of a fight against a behemoth like Emmett.

"Definitely," she agreed matter-of-factly. "Once they're out of the way, you won't have to worry about shielding anyone anymore, so you'll be free to defend yourself." It scared me how delicate the timing of this fight would be. What if I needed to defend myself before Emmett had finished with Jane and Alec?

Alice studied my face and guessed at my thoughts. "Don't worry, Bella. I'll protect you in the meantime. No one will so much as lay a finger on either of us. And Zafrina will be able to blind the entire guard, so all I'll have to do is knock their heads off when they make a lunge toward us." That was true, I hadn't been thinking about the advantage Zafrina would give us. "There's only one thing we really need to worry about," Alice continued slowly, "We need to consider the possibility that Aro might try to force Carlisle to surrender by threatening to kill us."

I sucked in a little gasp of air. "You're right," I breathed out, "That's exactly what he would do."

"What should we do in that situation?" she asked, more thinking aloud than asking for my opinion. "Someone would have to take care of him, almost instantly, if that were the case. Caius might be a problem, too. He is more easily dealt with than Aro though because Aro will have Renata shielding him, and no one will be able to get through her." She was rambling, but something tugged at the corner of my mind when she said no one could get through Renata's shield. I scanned through my memories, recalling everything I'd ever heard on the topic of shields. I remembered a time when I was concerned about the fact that Renesmee had been able to get through my shield, and Edward had explained his theory behind that phenomenon. That's it! Edward had said at the time, 'I doubt there's a shield on the planet who could keep her at bay.'

"Alice, I have an idea. Edward has this theory about Renesmee. He thinks her gift is the opposite of mine: I keep everyone out, and no one can keep her out."

Alice looked skeptical. "You want your daughter to fight Aro?"

No. If there were anyone else who could do it, no. But she would be the only one who could even lay a hand on him. No, a thousand times, no. She would never be able to beat him. He was stronger, smarter and eager to slaughter. An image flashed through my mind in that instant of the murder he had orchestrated at our last confrontation: Irina's body going up in smoke while Caius trained a flame-thrower on her. It had been instantaneous and unstoppable.

"No," I responded evenly to Alice's question, "I want her to torch him."


	18. Chapter 18: Waiting

Alice eyes widened, and if I wasn't mistaken, she was looking at me with newfound respect. "A little taste of his own medicine. Fitting. But where is she going to get a torch?"

"I know of one under this very roof."

"Bella, I think she'd have a better chance at finding one growing on a tree. Seriously, how would we ever get our hands on Caius' flame-thrower?"

"What? Pick-pocketing isn't one of your many talents?" That threw her for a loop. I knew she prided herself on her ability to do just about anything, and do it well, nefarious or not.

"And do you think we'll see him again before the battle?" she asked sarcastically.

"No..." I replied slowly, thinking it through. "But it'd probably be better to wait until we all get out there anyway, so that he doesn't miss it beforehand."

"So, if I'm hearing you right, you want me to pick his pocket in the middle of a battle and somehow slip the torch to Renesmee in time for her to light up Aro and save us all from being killed? Is that all?" More sarcasm, this was another one of those things that she was good at.

"Is that asking too much?" I asked, my eyes big with disbelief. I could do the sarcasm thing, too, when it suited my purpose.

"Well, it's close, but...no, I'm sure I can do it." She was suddenly serious. "I'll do a little checking ahead, make sure he's going to bring it and where it will be, all that." It was as if she were arranging for a bouquet of flowers to be delivered, nothing more. She was the most capable and competent person I knew, and I trusted her implicitly.

"Good. I'll tell Edward to have Renesmee watch for the pass." It relieved some of my tension to talk lightheartedly about these life-or-death issues because I didn't want to think about how dangerous this was going to be. "Thank you, Alice." She winked, and I lapsed into silence, my thoughts overtaking me.

When I did think about it, when I really looked at the reality of our situation, everything about it seemed strange and unreal to me. I mean, we were immortals, faced with mortality. We were starting a war, fighting corruption, and looking for revenge. I supposed those things weren't that unusual though; a lot of things about being a vampire really weren't that different from being human, and wars had been prevalent in both of those worlds throughout history. When I got right down to it, I realized that it was my own vengefulness that surprised me the most. This was something that was very different about being a vampire, for me anyways. As a human, I had never felt the need to avenge myself, but now it was a driving force. Ever since that day in the field, I felt that rising bloodlust every time I thought of the Volturi and their threats against my family and me. Now that Aro had openly admitted to an ongoing, determined persecution of my family, I would stop at nothing to rid our world of him. I hated to put the responsibility for his death on Renesmee, but I didn't think it would be possible for anyone else to get close enough to him. She was mature beyond her years and would be able to understand the necessity of our actions. I would still have to convince Edward though, and I would have no way of knowing whether he would follow my directions or choose his own way. He would have the final say, and I would simply have to trust him. Although, I did have the advantage of being very convincing when I wanted to be.

_Edward, _I started, forming my thoughts into words as if I were talking to him._ You've got to hear me out on this one. When Aro sees the army that you've gathered, his best chance at beating us will be to hold you off with threats. He knows that none of you would ever attack him if it would cost Alice and I our lives. I'm sure he will see this and try to use us to his advantage. Someone will have to stop him or this war will never end. Someone will have to _kill_ him, Edward, and I only know of one person who can get through Renata's shield. _I didn't want to say her name, even in my thoughts, but her image flitted across my conscious mind before I could stop it.

I knew that I would need to put some serious weight into my argument now that Edward knew what I was asking of him, and I took a moment to consider the best way to continue. Edward seemed to understand things best when I showed him how I felt about something instead of telling him, so I let the feelings of my heart pour out: my fierce need to protect Renesmee and Edward, the two most precious people in my life; my desire to obtain justice for the many times the Volturi had nearly taken my family members and friends from me; my hope for a safe and happy future without the threat of violence lingering just over the horizon; my longing to make the world a better place, for both vampires and humans.

_This is our plan, Edward, _I thought, bringing my one-sided debate to a close,_ Alice will obtain Caius' flamethrower and pass it off to Renesmee while Aro is making his threats. Tell her to be ready to use it. Alice and I will protect her, so she won't have to worry about fighting anyone. Just find a way to get her in the right place, and help her…help her understand…all of this. I love you both so much. See you soon! _I felt like the world's worst mother, but I still couldn't figure out any other way to make our plan work. I could only pray that Edward would accept my idea; we didn't want any surprises once we got out there.

We had hours to go until nightfall, and the time passed so slowly. It was all I could do to keep myself from counting the seconds as they ticked by. Late in the afternoon Alice saw a brief flash of the plans Carlisle had made. She saw him instructing the group to remember that anyone who surrendered before or during the battle would be pardoned. Anyone who fought back or attempted to run would be considered a threat, but anyone who asked for mercy would be given it. As for the many members of the guard that had been dispersed over the countryside, Carlisle wanted to leave them in peace. Alice and I knew that most of them hadn't been with the Volturi long enough to develop of a sense of fraternity, and their allegiance would crumble once the upper echelon was eliminated. They'd wander off alone or in pairs, and they wouldn't give us any trouble.

Alice foresaw that the moon would just be rising as our army came within sight of Volterra. They would stop then and a rain would begin to fall, courtesy of Benjamin, escalating quickly into a thunderstorm. From that point on, we couldn't be sure of any details because too much of it would depend on what Aro decided to do when he found out he had been conned. We waited impatiently for darkness to fall and listened for the coming rain.

In the end I heard their approaching footfalls before the rain. The ground was hard and baked by the sun, and the noise as they sped over its surface carried a great distance. I was sure the Volturi vampires would notice it in seconds, even though they weren't listening for it as closely as I was. Then the rain started abruptly, a downpour coming out of nowhere, masking the sound of their advance just a second too late. I heard the sound of angry voices in a distant part of the castle followed by the sound of running feet, and I knew that our army had been noticed. Several pairs of feet ran to the towers facing north and east to look out over the city walls in order to see what was coming, and then they raced back into the interior of the castle. I could hear their frantic voices now:

"An army! There's close to fifty of them," someone shouted.

"Carlisle brought an army, Aro." I recognized Caius' angry voice making the accusation. "You were wrong to trust those Cullens."

"Caius, I'm sure Carlisle will be reasonable," Aro replied stiffly, obviously trying to maintain his calm demeanor, but sounding distinctly ruffled. I snickered, picturing a chicken left with its feathers all in disarray by an unexpected gust of wind. "Gather everyone at the front gates," Aro ordered, "I'll go get those two enchantresses and find out what's going on." There were more racing feet flying through the corridors in the opposite direction of our chamber, and then two pairs coming toward us: Aro and Renata. He would not let her leave his side now. I wasn't sure at this point if I was nervous or excited, but I felt the venom coursing through my veins in anticipation of our fight, and I knew I was ready to meet our enemies head on.

Aro tore the door to our chamber off its hinges and dropped it to the floor. "Well, my little devils, you have contrived to deceive me," he said softly, controlling his anger as if he were talking to a couple of naughty children. "Since you have forced my hand, I'd like for you to come with me to see Carlisle after all. I don't think he'll be so inclined to go to war when he sees that your lives hang in the balance."

_Edward, it's happened. Tell Renesmee to be ready. _I didn't have time for more words, but I knew Edward would sense my associated feelings as well: worry and dread, yes, but also strength, confidence and urgency.

I had a split second to shield both Alice and myself entirely before Aro grabbed our arms and dragged us along after him out of the castle and toward the battlefield. I looked at Alice, and she nodded back at me, grim but firm. We had made our plan, and we would follow it through.


	19. Chapter 19: Fire

This was a far cry from the magnificence with which the Volturi had descended upon us in Forks. I remembered admiring their grace and glory as they had approached in perfect formation. At that time their numbers had been overwhelming, now there were only fifteen including Aro, Caius, Marcus and their wives, and they didn't react very well to being outnumbered. As we joined the small group of cloaked guards that had gathered at the gates of the city, the disorder and confusion was palpable. These were the members of Aro's inner circle, their cloaks several shades darker than the ones Alice and I wore. The hooded figures looked as black as the night now that the rain had soaked through the dense fabric. The ambient light from the city made their pale faces gleam as they turned to look at us, and I recognized them all. Alec, Jane, Chelsea, Afton, Demetri, Corin, Felix, Heidi, Santiago, Sulpicia, Athenodora, Caius, Marcus. They ignored Alice and I, looking to our left where Aro stood with Renata at his side. At a signal from Aro, they pulled themselves into a stiff, boxy formation. No gallantry this time, only practicality.

Aro pulled open the gates and a small hiss escaped between his teeth at the sight before his eyes. We all craned our necks to see what he had seen. My eyes penetrated the darkness easily, and I looked down the hill to the plain where Carlisle and his army were waiting. They had gathered in two long rows, with the Cullens standing slightly ahead of the rest and five wolves flanking each side. A satisfied smile crept across my face. We had turned the tables on the Volturi.

Before any of the Volturi had so much as uttered a gasp, I had my shield ballooning out above Alice and I. I had never stretched it so far, but it had never shown any evidence of limitations before, as long as I had been capable of manipulating it. I kept one small part tightly enveloped around Alice and I, then pushed the rest of it farther and farther away, until I felt the familiar lights of my loved ones popping up underneath it. I concentrated on making sure everyone was underneath and then neatly pulled down the edges and tucked them all in as if I were covering them with a blanket.

As Aro led our little band down the hill, I saw a tiny figure break away from the group, and I realized with horror that it was my Nessie! What was she doing? She couldn't come running right across the open field to us. Someone would grab her and keep her from doing her job. Before I could shout for her to go back or even attempt to readjust my shield in order to protect her, she started shouting, "Chelsea, Chelsea!" Pain stabbed through my heart and then spread through every nerve of my body. Chelsea had gotten to her after all, I thought with defeat. For a moment, I let up on the pressure on the edges of my shield, and they started to shrink back toward me. I knew I needed to keep it in place, but I was also desperate to throw the entire force of it over Renesmee, and I felt so confused by her actions that I couldn't make my mind do anything.

I just stood there, as she continued shouting, her ringing voice full of joy, and watched as she launched herself into Chelsea's arms. I watched in shock and disbelief as Chelsea cradled her in her arms and pressed her lips to Renesmee's forehead. I knew from Renesmee's memories that Chelsea had genuinely loved her. Renesmee was the most lovable child on the face of the earth; I hadn't been surprised about that, but I didn't think that Renesmee had ever reciprocated that love. Had she hidden that from me? Had Edward known?

I looked across the expanse between us to see if this action had hurt him as much as it had me, and I was shocked to see the perfectly calm expression on his face. He caught my eye and gave me a reassuring smile. Was this part of his plan? In any case, she appeared to be perfectly safe for now. I tightened my control over my shield and locked down the edges around my family and friends again. Then, I looked from Edward to Renesmee and back again and pushed my tiny corner of the shield away from my head. _Edward_, I asked, _did you_... Before I had even finished the thought, he was nodding his head. I sighed with relief. He had orchestrated this in order to get Renesmee in close proximity without arousing suspicion, and it had worked like a charm. As usual, she had completely enamored everyone around her, and they could not possibly doubt her innocence.

"Carlisle," Aro spoke, bringing us all back to the matter at hand. "What is this?" He gestured to the vampires and wolves fanned out on both sides of their leader.

"I regret having to go to such drastic measures, Aro, but you left us with no choice."

"There must be some misunderstanding, my friend. Why would you think that you need to confront me with such force?" Aro asked innocently.

"I have it straight from your own mouth, Aro." Carlisle's voice turned harsh. "You told Alice and Bella, and I quote: 'We will hunt down every last one of them,' 'their lives, and yours, are in my hands,' 'you will be hunted to extinction along with the rest of your family.'" Carlisle's voice trembled with emotion, and he paused to pull himself together. When he continued I could hear the renewed strength in his words. "I don't think I have misunderstood your intentions toward my family, as much as I wish that it could be explained away that easily."

Aro never flinched, but Caius was visibly disturbed, and Marcus looked uneasy. All at once the three of them seemed to realize how Carlisle had heard those direct quotes, and they turned in unison to direct their scathing glares on us. I saw the resolve form on Aro's face. He didn't like having his vile ways exposed, but this allowed him to abandon his act and try a new ploy. "I have done nothing wrong, Carlisle. I am not the one who assembled an army. You have acted hastily and prematurely by bringing your friends and family to war against us without cause, and I have no choice but to respond in kind. You have me outnumbered, I freely admit it, but I have two of your daughters," he said, leering maliciously. "Stand down, Carlisle, or they will die for your treachery."

As he spoke I saw Caius slip his hand into his robe, and I knew we had to act immediately. Alice stood by my side, and out of the corner of my eye I could see the glint of wet metal in her hand. Alice had done her job, so well that even I hadn't noticed her doing it. While everyone, including myself, had been distracted by Renesmee, Alice had slipped the weapon out right under Caius' nose.

Caius patted his robe with both hands, confused. Then he snapped his head up. The rest happened so fast that it only filled the space between one second and the next, yet I saw it all as if it were in slow motion. Alice's hand came up and hurled the torch over several vampire's heads into Renesmee's open hands. I followed its graceful arc through the air, willing it to stay free from intercepting hands. No one even moved an inch, much less made a lunge for it; they were frozen in place with shock. Renesmee quickly flipped open the top, and my eyes focused on the intricate carvings around the mouth. I realized that the figures were ornate letters, spelling out the phrase 'la muerte viene inesperado'. I knew enough Italian to translate this apt reminder: death comes unexpectedly. In one bound Renesmee leapt out of Chelsea's arms and landed directly in front of Aro. Astonishment contorted his features so drastically that the effect was almost comedic. His eyebrows arched so high that I thought they would rip the papery skin of his forehead away from the rest of his face. His eyes popped wide open, and their milky depths were filled with an expression I had never seen him wear: alarm, quickly mounting to fear. His mouth opened wide, as if to protest. His hands flew up in front of his face. And that was the last I saw of him before he was engulfed in flames. He writhed and danced in torment, unable to run, unable to defend himself, yet not one of the vampires standing around him so much as twitched a muscle. All we could do was stare. The heavy rain continued to fall, hissing when it hit the flames, but it could do nothing to dampen their power.


	20. Chapter 20: A Fair Fight

Finally, he collapsed, and I was able to tear my eyes away from his flaming remains to gauge the reactions of the Volturi vampires around us. Their expressions were mirror images of what Aro's had been in the millisecond before the fire ignited his body. Their eyes were still glued to their leader, as Renesmee continued to reduce him to ashes. I forced myself to remain focused on our objective and not get distracted by thinking about what she was doing. I moved to her side, ready to defend her with my life. I caught sight of Alice crouched defensively on her other side, a physical barricade between Renesmee and Renata. One glimpse at Renata told me she wouldn't pose a threat to us. She had stumbled backward several feet from the fire but still held her hand outstretched toward where Aro had stood, as if she had been frozen in the act of shielding him. I knew we had to act now while the Volturi could still be caught off guard.

I took a tenth of a second to analyze the layout of their forces. I located the four biggest threats, Jane, Alec, Felix and Demetri, and marked their positions in my head. I was in the process of mentally taking stock of the other ten Volturi members, when I realized something was off in the way they were all acting now. They were cowering, grasping for each other, as if something fearsome had overtaken them. Then, I noticed that no one from Carlisle's side had advanced yet, which was also strange. Was there something that I had missed? Instinct made me crouch and whirl, searching for the threat that everyone else had already seen. And suddenly it hit me: they hadn't seen anything. Literally. Zafrina had blinded our enemies, and they were helpless without their sight and afraid of their silent, unseen executioners.

I found that this angered me. I didn't want to kill defenseless victims, no matter how evil they were! I cried out in frustration, disgusted by what we were about to do. As if in answer to my voice, I heard someone racing through the rain toward me, faster than lightning. My body spun, ready to meet an attacker, even as my brain recognized the familiar sound: Edward. He had me in his arms in an instant, and although it was totally irrational at that moment, joy and relief overwhelmed my senses. I pulled Renesmee into the shelter of his arms as well and relished the feeling of being whole again.

"Edward..." I sighed in relief, as he edged us away from the smoldering embers at our feet.

"What's wrong, love?"

"_This_ is wrong." I gestured to the crouching figures all around us. My anger returned as I focused on their roving, sightless eyes. "I know they are monsters, but does that mean we can blindfold them and line them up for execution?"

"Bella, you know Carlisle better than that," he whispered, smoothing my drenched, windblown hair, "He's giving them a chance to surrender." At this, I saw many of the faces around me turn hard with pride. Felix. Caius. Jane. Demetri. They would rather die than surrender to us. I turned to look for Carlisle, picking him out where he stood several feet in front of his army. No one on that side had moved but Edward, and Carlisle motioned for us to join them.

He greeted Alice and I with widespread arms, pulling us to his chest tenderly. "Welcome back," he whispered. Esme and Jasper pushed their way through to us then, and Carlisle let us go, stepping forward to address the waiting Volturi. I focused on his words even as the mob that had been waiting to welcome us swallowed me whole. I felt very out of the loop, and I needed to know what he planned to do now.

"I did not come to slaughter you all in cold blood. I came to make peace," Carlisle began, and I heard a snort come from Jane's direction. "Some of you may not want violence any more than I do. If that is the case, I offer you the chance to surrender." A few more lifted their chins arrogantly at his offer. I picked out the faces of Alec, Athenodora, and Chelsea.

"We will not surrender to you," Caius boomed, his volume rising with each word. "Kill us where we stand, every last one of us, if that is the consequence for refusing your offer," he finished with a sneer. At this, his wife Athenodora moved to stand by his side, choosing to follow his lead.

"You do not speak for everyone, Caius. If there are any among you who do not wish to fight, please step forward, and you will be spared." Only three responded. Renata, Heidi, and Marcus started to move toward the sound of Carlisle's voice. I couldn't help being surprised at the selection.

Caius heard their shuffling footsteps and his face twisted with fury, his blind eyes rolling in their sockets. "Who dares to betray the memory of our fallen brother," he screeched, gesturing wildly. "These people just killed your leader; will you stand by and watch as the rest of us suffer the same fate? Alec! Do not let anyone leave! We will fight together, and we will die together," he finished triumphantly.

I wondered idly if vampires could go insane because I was pretty sure that something had just snapped inside Caius' brain. He froze with a self-satisfied smirk on his lips as Alec's mist spread across the valley in all directions, paralyzing everyone in its wake. I automatically checked the edges of my shield and tallied the lights under its protection as the wisps drifted aimlessly in our direction.

"If this is the way you want it, Caius, we will fight. However, we would prefer a fair fight, my brother." The irony in his voice was unmistakable. "Zafrina will give you back your sight now, and I hope that Alec will restore your other senses." Caius' grumbled an unintelligible order through his paralyzed lips, but Alec ignored him and reigned in his power.

As the mist slowly dissipated, Carlisle continued. "The wolves will not join us in battle today." he stated firmly, looking Jacob in the eye. Discontented growls filled the air on both sides of our formation, and I wasn't sure they would follow his directions. "This is not their fight," Carlisle emphasized, still addressing Caius, who was struggling against the remnants of Alec's mist as it lingered in the heavy air.

As soon as he was able to move his limbs, he charged across the open plain toward us, shouting, "I'll kill you all!" In the same instant that the words left his mouth, a lightening bolt flashed through the sky. I saw the tip of it touch his head, splitting his skull from one ear to the other. I watched as the electricity continued to bore right into him and break him apart from the inside out. The sound of screeching metal filled the air as more cracks opened, sparks shots in all directions, and Caius exploded into a million pieces with a ground-shuddering BOOM.

My brain unhinged in that moment, hiding from reality by taking refuge among trivial details. I knew it was ridiculous, but all I could think about was the fact that someone was going to have to gather all those pieces later, and it wasn't going to be me. Benjamin had made the mess, and he would have to clean it up.

The explosion sent the vampires on our side of the line into a frenzy, and they charged across the field shouting and cheering. Neither the vampires nor the wolves would be held back by anything Carlisle could say now. I took off after them alongside Edward and Renesmee, but even as I raced to take part in the kill, my mind revolted against my body's desires. My hands wanted to rip, my teeth wanted to tear, and my mouth filled with venom, but I knew that these were just my vampire instincts. I also knew that I was perfectly capable of denying my instincts. I seemed to have a gift for it, unfortunately, I thought grudgingly. My 'super self-control', as Edward called it, felt a lot more like a curse than a gift in moments like these when I wanted so badly to act without thinking. I slowed and pulled up before I reached the line of battle, watching anxiously as Edward and Renesmee threw themselves into the melee. I wanted desperately to fight beside them, to make certain that nothing happened to them, but now that I had overruled my instincts, I felt unsure of how to proceed. I only knew that in spite of my ravenous longing to mete out justice with my own hands, I couldn't bring myself to participate in the slaughter that was about to take place.

Suddenly an agonized wail interrupted my internal debate, and I knew instantly from the familiarity of the sound that I had made a huge mistake. I had forgotten as I lagged behind, talking myself out of fighting, that I _had_ to be a part of this fight. They still needed my shield! Now Jane and Alec were wreaking havoc, unchecked! I sprinted to the source of the scream, sending my shield flying out ahead of me to provide instant protection. The tortured cry ended abruptly, and I burst onto the scene to find little Alice, no longer in pain but still prostrate on the ground before Jane, and Jasper, Emmett and several others recovering from the paralysis Alec had inflicted on them. My eyes reverted back to Alice, and I stared in mortification as she struggled to get to her feet. Was she hurt? What had I done? _Alice_. _Alice. Alice_. Her name throbbed in my head like the beating of a heart. How long had she, and the others, suffered because of me? _Oh, Alice_. It couldn't have been more than a couple seconds, but even that was too much. Alec and Jane could have torn them to pieces in that time if there hadn't been too many of us for them to fend off. I flashed to her side to help her up, mentally berating myself for my lapse. _How could I have been so stupid_! Then I noticed Alice's intent stare, and I understood why she hadn't jumped up immediately. She wasn't hurt, she was timing her attack to correspond with Jasper and Emmett's. The three of them lunged at Jane and Alec simultaneously, and the horrific screech of rending flesh filled the air, as they dismembered the two tiny vampires. The sound reminded me of the danger we were in, and my thoughts flew to Edward and Renesmee. Where were they? Were they okay? Panic clouded my eyes, and I had to fight off the paralyzing effect it had on my limbs as I desperately searched the crowd for them.

Unable to see through the thick press of bodies around me, I jumped on the back of the nearest wolf, and continued to scan the clustered vampires for the two most important ones to me. I found them on the edge of the action, and locked eyes with Edward, who appeared to be looking for me as franticly as I had been searching for them. Edward held pieces of what looked like Demetri in his hands, and Renesmee stood beside Jacob, who had more pieces in his mouth. They were safe. Relief washed away my panic and allowed me to focus my thoughts again. In my distraction, I hadn't noticed that the noise of fighting had ceased. I looked back over the rest of our army then, really seeing them this time. Shreds of gray fabric and chunks of pale, marbly flesh littered the ground. I quickly scanned each of our vampires and wolves, searching for any sign of injury. Everyone looked as untouched as if they had been a bystander, like me. There were only three Volturi still standing: Marcus, Renata and Heidi. Carlisle stood by them, and I understood that he had prevented the others from massacring them with the rest of the Volturi. I wondered how he could possibly have kept them alive during that mayhem. The battle had been over before I had even had a chance to get in on the action. I felt ridiculous. Fighting was definitely one thing that I couldn't do well, even as a vampire. I couldn't just let myself go with my instincts and not think about it like the rest of them could. My gaze swept back over the scene, returning to Edward and Nessie, and suddenly nothing else mattered anymore.

I jumped down lightly and ran to meet them. Edward watched me coming and spread his arms to catch me as I barreled into him. He lifted me off my feet and spun around so that my legs whirled out in a broad circle. "We're free, Edward," I exulted, laughing. "We're finally free!" Edward put me down then, as gently as if I was human again. He placed his hands delicately on my waist and stared into the depths of my eyes, as if losing himself in them.

"Bella." He breathed my name with a reverence, as if I had just single-handedly saved the planet, and then he kissed me as if we were the only two people left on it.


	21. Chapter 21: Free

Eventually the caucophany around us pushed into my consciousness and reminded me that we weren't alone. I pulled away from Edward, curious and a little fearful about the unexplained noise.

"It's okay, Bella," he reassured me. "They're not paying any attention to us. They're just celebrating." He was right. All around us our friends were laughing and cheering and hugging and kissing each other. Their celebrations made me think back to the battle, and I wondered what had gone on while I had been so absorbed with my own worries.

"Tell me what happened during the fight, Edward. I...I think I missed most of it." I whispered the words into his chest, unable to meet his eyes.

"I'll tell you everything, but first would you do something for me?" He stroked my hair and looked at me with such adoration that I couldn't even think of refusing.

"Of course. Anything."

"Tell me what happened to you. I didn't even notice that you had left my side until I heard Alice's scream, and then I was so afraid that someone had hurt you to keep you from using your shield."

"Oh, Edward," I groaned. Anything but that. "It's so embarrassing."

"You don't have to say anything, just show me. You know I'll understand." Maybe too well, that was the problem. He'd see what a ninny I'd been. Of course, he'd probably find out about that anyways, and it'd be better if he could just see the whole thing from my perspective in the first place. I sighed, giving in.

"Just don't laugh. I already know that I'm pathetic." I opened my mind to him and took him back to where we had separated during the charge across the field. I showed him how my mind had warred with my instincts, and how I had decided to stay out of the fight. Then I remembered for him the scream that had made it instantly clear to me that I had made the wrong decision and my flying feet as I dashed to remedy the problem my absence had created. I relived the emotions that I had felt when I saw what I had allowed Jane and Alec to do: Horror. Fear. Self-disgust. And then frantic desperation when I realized that I had lost sight of him and Renesmee. I replayed the scenes that had flashed by as my eyes skimmed over the battlefield, desperately searching for their familiar figures. I found that I could slow these images down now and make sense of them when at the time my brain hadn't bothered to pull them into focus. I let him see himself and Renesmee through my eyes at the time when I had finally found them. Both so beautiful, whole, unmarred. Even in my memory, the flood of relief was all-encompassing. I recalled the confusion that followed quickly when I suddenly realized no one was fighting anymore, and my double-take of the quiet battlefield, my realization of our victory, and the return of my eyes to Edward and Renesmee. I hadn't noticed at the time, but I saw now that every cell in my body had been celebrating at the moment when I had met Edward's gaze from across the field and knew for certain that we were all at last truly free from the grasp of our enemies. I focused on how Edward's face had filled my vision until my body had met his and his kiss had obliterated my sight.

"Mmm," Edward moaned. "That was a good story, and a very good ending." I whole-heartedly agreed, about the ending anyway. "Are you sure you want to hear my side of the story? It's not nearly as good as yours." He took my face in his hands and kissed me gently, but thoroughly. When he drew back, it took me a minute to gather the thoughts that he had scattered to the wind, and then another minute to remember how to work my vocal chords again.

"Yes, I do want to hear your story." My voice shook a little more than I would have liked. "The only good part about mine was the ending, and that's really part of yours anyway, not mine."

"If you insist," he replied, unphased. How he remained so cool in spite of the raging fire he had just kindled, I would never understand. "Okay, here's what happened: once you took Jane and Alec's superpowers out of the equation," he beamed at me with pride, "it only took seconds for our army to rip the Volturi to shreds."

"Edward, don't..." I felt bad enough about what had happened as it was without him trying to make some sort of hero out of me.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, honey," Edward interrupted in a soft voice. "So you got distracted. It happens to all of us, and you had the situation under control again in less than a second. It was very impressive." Impressive wasn't the word I would have chosen. Stupid. Ridiculous. Pathetic. Any one of those would have described my actions more accurately. I let him continue without interrupting though; he was anxious to tell his story. "Meanwhile, I charged right into Demetri and knocked him flat on his back. When I heard Alice scream, I looked around to find you and almost had a heart attack when I realized you weren't anywhere in sight. Demetri tried to take advantage of my distraction by making a hasty lunge at my throat, but he wasn't fast enough. I spun out of the way, grabbed his arm as he flew by me and yanked as hard as I could. Bella, you will never believe what happened." His eyes were wide, remembering the disbelief that he had felt at the time. "His body literally ripped in half, as if I had pulled out a seam." I struggled to find the right reaction to his words. I felt disgusted, elated, confused and amazed all at once. Edward laughed at the dumbfounded look on my face. "That's exactly how I felt, love. It took me a second to figure out what had happened. Only when I could bring myself to look away from the torn body in my hand, did I notice Garrett standing opposite me, holding the other half of Demetri's body. He had grabbed the other arm just when I pulled, and the force tore our tracking friend in two," he finished smugly.

"A little gruesome, but very impressive."

He smiled wryly, noticing my echo of his earlier sentiments. "The wolves descended on the torn body before I had a chance to finish the job, unfortunately," he grumbled, "but at that point I had other things on my mind anyway. I whirled around in a circle, looking for you again, so afraid that I had lost you." I wound my arms around his waist and pressed myself to him as he spoke, wanting to be as close as possible. "It felt like my world was spinning in the wrong direction, toward destruction. And when I finally saw you sitting up there on top of Seth, everything just stopped. My eyes locked, my body froze, time stood still. Then you were running toward me, setting everything in motion again, but the good kind of motion this time, the kind that means everything is right in the world. I just wanted to hold you close and spin off into eternity with you in my arms."

I snuggled closer into his chest, so happy that I just wanted to bury myself in him. "You tell a pretty good story yourself, you know." I wasn't thinking about just the ending though; I had picked out an important fact in Edward's story: the fight had been over before he had even had the chance to properly sink his teeth into anyone. That made me feel a lot better about myself.


	22. Chapter 22: Epilogue

The fires burned into the early morning hours, and a haze of smoke hung over the valley as dawn broke. We retreated into the shelter of the forest before it was light enough for human eyes to distinguish the crowd of mysterious creatures that had gathered in the night. We were all anxious to return home immediately, but Carlisle wanted to stay and help Marcus deal with the guard members who would be returning soon from their various missions. The two of them went up to the castle together later that morning, Marcus wearing his somber, dark cloak with the hood pulled low over his face, in spite of the fact that heavy clouds hid the sun. I couldn't help feeling sorry for the old vampire; after all, he had just lost friends that he had lived with for several centuries. In spite of that fact, he seemed to be more relieved than saddened by his sudden bereavement. Of course, he would mourn in his own way, but I noticed that he was less detached now and more opinionated and decisive when it came to making decisions about the immediate future. In a way, I fancied, he had been set free as well. We had given him a chance to start over with a clean slate, and with that, a way to escape the wickedness that had infiltrated his life in recent years. Renata and Heidi, having recovered from their shock, were also doing relatively well. Neither of them had forged a strong bond with any of their deceased comrades, and they were happy to have escaped with their lives. For now, the three of them wished to remain in Volterra, though Marcus did not want to maintain a guard as Aro had done. Carlisle agreed to help him explain matters to the remaining guards and send them away peacefully. It looked as if Marcus, Heidi and Renata had the makings for a happy coven, and I hoped that they would find harmony together.

Our army would disperse at nightfall, returning home immediately so as to be well clear of the area before any of the stray Volturi members returned. We didn't want them to have any hard feelings toward any of our friends in particular. Before everyone left, Edward, Emmett and Jasper were determined to figure out who had killed whom during our "Three Second Battle", as Alice had christened it, and they questioned our allies relentlessly about their individual contributions to the fight. This left me feeling very singled out, as I was the only one, other than Carlisle, who had failed to take any part in the killing. From the accounts that they received from the other vampires though, it seemed like everyone had had similar experiences to Edward's. It drove Emmett insane that no single person could claim responsibility for any given kill, but it sounded about right to me, considering we had outnumbered them three to one. I didn't get involved in the debate though. It was enough for me to know that we were finally rid of the Volturi, enough to know that I would never have to hear that name spoken again.

Eventually, I tired of hearing the battle rehashed and wandered over to where Esme was talking with a few of the new vampires. She kindly introduced me to them, and I had the pleasure of meeting Raul and Theresa, who were friends of Carmen, and Roger, a young vampire that Mary had created shortly after we had last seen her. In the course of our conversation, Mary revealed that Roger had the interesting ability to hear dead people. This sparked my interest immediately, and I threw Roger an appreciative look.

"Dead people--does that mean just humans, or vampires as well," I asked him.

"I possessed the gift as a human, and now, as a vampire, I've found that I can hear both humans and vampires," Roger explained. My mind reeled, digesting the implications of those words. I noticed that Edward had suddenly gone silent in the middle of his debate with Emmett, and I guessed that he was eavesdropping on our conversation.

"Where are they, Roger?" I asked pointedly. "Do you know where souls go when their bodies die?"

"No, I don't know. I can't ask them questions or anything like that. It's just that sometimes souls want to send a message back to the ones they've left behind. I hear those messages. They don't say anything more once their message has been heard."

"But you do hear from the souls of both humans and vampires?" I refined my question. The destination of vampire souls wasn't the issue so much as the existence of vampire souls.

"Yes," he answered slowly, a little confused as to what I was getting at.

"And is there anything different about the souls of vampires, that you can tell?"

"No, not that I can tell, but I haven't run across very many vampire souls. There aren't nearly as many dead vampires as dead humans, you know."

"That's all I wanted to know," I concluded triumphantly, throwing a significant glance at Edward. He took this as his cue to join our discussion.

"Thank you for settling an age-old debate, Roger. I am surprised, however, that Bella should worry so much over our souls when we are, in fact, immortal," he said with a nonchalant shrug. "With Bella and Alice's extraordinary abilities combined to protect us, I can't imagine anyone trying to pick a fight with us again," Edward said, beaming at me with pride. Then, he pulled me close and nuzzled his face into the hollow of my neck, whispering, "Bella, this time we really are going to live happily _ever after_."

I didn't have a response, so I let the subject drop for the time being. I continued to mull over his words in the back of my head for the rest of the day though. As darkness descended, our friends prepared to depart, and we said our good-byes. When the last of them left, Edward and I went with them to the edge of the forest and lingered there, watching as they quickly disappeared into the distance. It felt good to be alone together again. I leaned against his side, and thought about how nice it was to finally have a happily-ever-after ending. All the other times when we had come away from a battle for our lives, there had always been something unresolved that would resurface to threaten us again in the future. It felt strange to think that we might actually live the rest of our existence in peace now. That thought brought me back once again to the question that I had been pondering silently ever since our conversation with Roger.

"Edward, do you think it's really possible that we might never die?"

"Sure, it's possible. There are some vampires alive today that have existed for millennia. Of course, those ones are usually the type that stay out of trouble," he added ruefully.

"And we're probably not that type, are we?" I laughed, thinking of all the angst and turmoil we'd suffered over the past several years.

"No, I'd say we're more the 'danger magnet' type. Though we were all fairly inconspicuous before you came along."

"I've done my fair share of getting us _out_ of trouble, too," I reminded him with a pout.

"Yes, you have, without a doubt. With the Volturi gone, I don't think we'll have anything to worry about for a long, long time. Thanks to you," he added with a smile.

"All the same, you might want to keep me around. Just in case."

"There's no question about that, my love. We make a pretty good team."

"What do you say we go home and just enjoy ourselves for the next millennium or so? And maybe after that we can save the universe from an alien invasion or something like that." After all, I was fairly sure that since vampires and werewolves were real, aliens probably were, too.

"Maybe," Edward agreed, "If we get bored."

Ha! Right. We both knew that would never happen. I didn't get a chance to argue with him though because he was already proving my point, swallowing me up in his arms and kissing the sense out of me. I gave in, hoping that we wouldn't be interrupted for at least a decade.

"Momma? Daddy?" Renesmee's questioning voice burst my bubble. She was looking for us, and it wouldn't take her long to find us. Maybe a decade was too much to hope for with a young child. A week would do nicely though. _Once we get home, Edward, Renesmee is going to spend some quality time with her grandparents, and we're going to finish what you just started, _I thought, adding a few vivid pictures for good measure. Edward all but flung himself on me this time, and I gave in, sinking with him into oblivion. Again, Renesmee's voice dragged me back to reality.

"Ew. How embarrassing," she muttered. I looked up, surprised to see her so close, then embarrassed myself as I realized that our entire family was standing there with her, watching us. I reluctantly disentangled my arms and legs from Edward's body, noticing the smirk on Emmett's face and the awkwardly averted gazes of the rest of the family. How had they walked right up to us without me even hearing? An echo of something Edward had said on our honeymoon sounded in my head, _You seem to be extraordinarily unobservant when your attention is otherwise involved_. I guess some things never change.


End file.
